 Locusts, plague imminent? |
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Locusts, plague imminent? |
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Mar 24 2004, 03:30 AM
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Locust Plague Strikes
Well it looks farmers from Warrigal and a greens keeper in Coonamble have something in common both have been plagued by Locusts. The Warrigal farmers have just got over the worst droughts in 100 years and just after a nice amount of rain plague locusts ate the young shoots. (Source: Reuters) Click to see picture and comments 
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Apr 18 2004, 11:35 PM
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Millions Of Locusts Swarm Toward Australian Cities
SYDNEY - Millions of locusts swarmed toward Australia's second biggest city of Melbourne on Thursday, as the insects were also reported near the southern city of Adelaide. (Source: Planet Ark) Click to read the rest of the article
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May 3 2004, 12:14 AM
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Australia Takes Aim At Pullulating Pests
Australia is fighting simultaneous swarms of countless locusts, rampaging attacks on sheep by wild dogs and new outbreaks of mice. The island continent's vast uncontrolled spaces make it one of the countries hardest hit by pests. For many farmers, a just-announced parliamentary inquiry into the impact of pest animals on Australia's multibillion-dollar agriculture sector is long overdue. (Source: Planet Ark) Click to read article
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May 4 2004, 08:10 AM
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This raises an interesting animal rights question.... what sort of right do pest animals (e.g. field mice, cane toads, etc.) have to roam how they wish?
Should specific means of extermination be outlawed? Is it the fault of the animals concerned that we consider them pests? Too many difficult questions to answer... I tend to think that we have to draw a line with animal rights somewhere. However, views of farmers who are trying to make a living are rightly going to differ from those of us who are surfing the web in cushy armchairs in suburbia. - Guy
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Aug 19 2004, 02:00 AM
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#5
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Australian Wheat Farmers Brace for Huge Locust Plague
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Planet Ark News AUSTRALIA: August 19, 2004 SYDNEY - Australia's wheat farmers, fresh from battling the country's worst drought in a century, are now threatened by a plague of locusts which have already begun to hatch from a sprawling "nursery" in the country's outback. Early locust hatchings are the precursor of an expected full-scale outbreak in a few weeks' time, which should rival the one in 2000 that spawned up to 100 billion insects, officials said. The new onslaught is taking place in the heart of Australia's wheat belt and on the fringe of populated areas, making it more threatening this time for farmers in the sparsely populated outback. "It's quite a huge area," Heath McRae, an official with the Australian Plague Locust Commission, told Reuters yesterday. "It's been 20 years in some of those areas since people have seen locusts. There are reports of some early hatchings." First hatchings are in northern New South Wales (NSW), in the Lightening Ridge opal mining district near Walgett, a major wheat center. "A serious locust situation is expected to develop in New South Wales in the spring," the locust commission warned in its latest bulletin. Graeme Eggleston, the New South Wales Plague Locust Commissioner, said last month the situation was "quite frightening." The densest locust egg beds ran through the center of NSW, a state bigger than Texas. The main concentration was in a 155-mile wide band from Forbes through to the Queensland border, 264 miles to the north. Swarms of the bugs which laid the eggs early this year were estimated to have extended across a 745-mile front from central NSW into southwest Queensland, an area twice the size of England. McRae said they have begun to map the early season hatchings in northern NSW and southern Queensland, ahead of peak hatchings in early September, McRae said. In the south around the border with Victoria state, the hopping, flying insects will not begin to form until early October, as locust hatchings, like ripening wheat, follow the spring sun south. NSW Agriculture has laid in emergency supplies of 12,000 litres of chemicals for ground control and 24,000 litres for aerial spraying, while the locust commission has also ordered extra chemicals for aerial spraying. Australia's locust plague was brought on earlier this year by drought-breaking rains. The return of the drought then helped bring that plague under control, but not before the next generation of insects had been laid in six-inch holes in the ground. The drought also reduced the population of birds and parasites, which normally help to keep locust numbers down. Story by Michael Byrnes REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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Aug 21 2004, 07:53 AM
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Shadowlands
The worst locust plague to hit NSW in 25 years is looming, threatening to wreak economic and natural devastation, writes Daniel Lewis... smh.com.au Story August 21 2004 Looked for the Australian Plague Locust Commision Site which is hosted by AFFA - the old address does not work but I found them here, http://www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?...2200060B0A00383 Just in case they return to ther old address, here it is as well. http://www.affa.gov.au/aplc/ - Stephen
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Oct 12 2004, 08:45 AM
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Look Out For Locusts, Farmers Told
VICTORIAN farmers are being urged to keep a sharp eye out for baby locusts to help avoid the emergence of a plague... NEWS.com.ay Story October 11 2004
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Oct 28 2004, 09:51 PM
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#8
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Everything you need to know about locusts
CSIRO Media Release Oct 27 2004 From, http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=mediaRe...le=mediaRelease A new book on grasshoppers and locusts, which represents nearly 100 years of scientific research, will assist agriculturalists understand more about locust plagues. NSW is currently experiencing a build up to a locust plague with more than 4000 reports of egg bed hatchings and widespread spraying with pesticides. One of the book's authors, former CSIRO entomologist Dr David Rentz, has studied grasshoppers and locusts for more than 40 years. "Many grasshoppers have their good side," Dr Rentz said. "They are recyclers of nutrients, they control certain weeds, and they are the basic food for our native reptiles and birds." "Grasshoppers are also important for monitoring ecological activity because they are generally large, easily seen and collected, and abundant in arid parts of Australia. For example, mining companies may use them to assess the progress of land reclamation operations." "On the bad side, changing crops and farming practices may result in new grasshopper problems for farmers, especially as many species of grasshoppers are being squeezed out of their normal habitats by land clearing." "To control their bad side and benefit from their good side, we need to know more about these numerous species." Dr Rentz is co-author of "A Guide to Australian Grasshoppers and Locusts" which provides the means to identify about half of the 750 known species of Australian grasshoppers. Full colour photographs show the grasshoppers in nature and a full page details their structure, their behaviour, where they live and lists any related species. Introductory chapters of the book cover biology, collecting and preserving, grasshopper anatomy, classification, and grasshoppers in the Australian habitat. A chapter provides details on the work of the Australian Plague Locust Commission and their efforts to monitor and control locust plagues in Australia. A bibliography lists all relevant literature references on Australian grasshoppers. Principal sponsor is the Australian Plague Locust Commission, who provided funding to assist with the digital imaging as well as publications. Funds were also provided by the Orthopterists' Society. Much of the information in this book is published for the first time and represents nearly 100 years of combined research in CSIRO Entomology by three of the four authors. They were convinced that much of the knowledge they had acquired would 'go to the grave' with them if not put on paper. "A Guide to Australian Grasshoppers and Locusts" by D.C.F. Rentz, R.C. Lewis, Y.N. Su and M.S. Upton. Published by Natural History Publications (Borneo), September 2003.ISBN 983-812-074-X Available through The Green Book Company, phone orders toll-free 1800 646 533, fax (03) 9427 9066, email: sales@greenbook.com.au For more information: Dr David Rentz 07 4093 7250
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Oct 10 2005, 10:19 PM
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#9
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Delivering a deadly drop to locusts
CSIRO Media Release - Ref 2005/188 - Oct 06 , 2005 From http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=mediaRe...le=mediaRelease CSIRO scientists have successfully utilised a rare Australian native fungus – Metarhizium – to produce an environmentally friendly 'bioinsecticide' spray, Green Guard®, which has proven effective in controlling one of the world's major agricultural scourges, plague locusts. Green Guard® has already been used in Australia to control locust outbreaks, but only under a special licence. Now it will be available to all rural producers. CSIRO recently signed a commercial agreement with the agricultural biotechnology firm, Becker Underwood Pty Ltd and soon Green Guard® will be available worldwide. Managing Director of Becker Underwood Australia, Mr Richard Waterworth, said that Green Guard® had now been granted full registration by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and will be made available to farmers through agricultural resellers and government bodies involved in locust control such as the Australian Plague Locust Commission and the NSW Rural Lands Protection Boards. 'We have also had promising discussions with groups around the world and will be pursuing these,” Mr Waterworth said. ”Our first aim is registration of Green Guard® in China. Africa, Mexico, Canada, USA and South America will be targeted in the longer term.” It took Dr Richard Milner and his team at CSIRO Entomology a decade to produce a usable product. “When Metarhizium was discovered it didn't seem to be a likely candidate for controlling plague locusts,” Dr Milner said. “Locusts like it dry and the fungus likes it moist. However, the need for a 'green' alternative to insecticides for locust control encouraged us to persevere.” Metarizhium spores infect locusts by literally boring into their cuticle (skin). Once inside they use up water and nutrients and grow tiny tubes which eventually kill the insect. Early attempts to produce a water-based spray failed and Dr Milner's team spent years developing a mix of vegetable and mineral oils in which Metarhizium spores can be delivered with maximum efficiency. “In an oil suspension, Metarhizium can be sprayed under very hot conditions and won't dry out,” Dr Milner said. “In fact, the fungus will infect and kill locusts in conditions where we would not normally expect it to be active,” he said. After spraying, Green Guard® does not persist in the environment for more than two to four weeks and, while it is effective against a wide range of grasshoppers and locusts, it does not affect even close relatives like crickets. Aquatic life and birds are also safe. The research was conducted by CSIRO Entomology with assistance from the Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC), the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and NSW Agriculture.
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Dec 8 2005, 12:36 PM
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QUOTE Locust Plague Threatens Australia's Main Dairy State (Update1) Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A plague of locusts described by farmers as the worst in 30 years is threatening cereal crops in Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state. Bloomberg As a local resident in the affected area in the north of the Australian State of Victoria/ and the southern Riverrina district of New South Wales - the following is what I know of: "Hoppers" or grasshoppers swarms (or "cicadas") are beginning to display locust behaviours in areas 10km south, farmland 8km north of where i am. And it is not just this area, as from National Geographic News: QUOTE Australia Braces for Locust Plague Stephanie Peatling in Sydney, Australia for National Geographic News November 30, 2004 The plains of northwestern New South Wales (NSW), Australia, are normally quiet places. People are few and far between in these croplands of wheat and cotton. But the silence is about to be broken by swarms of locusts that threaten to move across the state with a sound some liken to that of a hailstorm. And from the BBC: QUOTE Australia faces plague of locusts Locusts are already ravaging Australia's cereal crops Farmers in Australia are bracing themselves for the country's worst plague of locusts in many years. More than 100 billion of the insects are expected to descend upon South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland following an unusually high summer rainfall. Like I said, where I live is currently surrounded by hopper populations. It is not uncommon for swarms to "take out" the vegetation in this area. I'll keep you posted if anything were to happen.
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Dec 22 2005, 10:14 AM
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Victoria is experiencing the worst locust plague in 30 years. The two areas affected are Swifts Creek in East Gippsland and Mitiamo (south east of Swan Hill).
The locusts will be making their way south into Bendigo today or tomorrow. Young locusts (before they can fly) are being sprayed with a fungus that essentially rots out their guts. Adult locusts (that are capable of flight) are being sprayed with a pesticide by aircraft. They are causing significant economic damage to crops, but not being seen by a lot of people. But once they hit Bendigo, then they will be making the papers!
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Jan 5 2006, 07:59 AM
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#12
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It really depends on your perspective. Locust migrations "plagues" as we call them have been a natural part of the Australian environment for thousands of years. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the current migrating swarms are any larger than what naturally occurred in Australia long before European settlement. The opposite is much more likely.
Locusts provide an abundant food source for wildlife, including many endangered or rare species, such as small marsupials like Dunnarts, and threatened reptiles such as hooded-scaly-foot legless lizards. Their grazing effect, is also very beneficial for native grasslands, by creating inter-tussock spaces, so important in Australian grassland ecology. The current approach to manageing native locusts in Australia, aims to eliminate swarming activity, thus removing this natural cycle from the native ecosystems in which it plays an important role. To do this large expanses of wilderness in SW Queensland and other sensitive environments throughout inland SE Australia suffer aerial spraying with insecticides. These insecticides include chemicals that have been banned for this use in a number of other countries, due to the high risk they pose to both the environment and human health. The other residual biological insecticide that is used, has not been tested to any great extent, but is known to effect a whole range of other insects, not only locusts. The frequency and extent of Migrating locust swarms has dramatically reduced in recent years. What was once a 1 in 5 year occurrence has not occurred for 20 years in many parts of their former range. Alternative approaches to managing the effects of locusts on high value crops need to be investigated and the natural locust swarms need to be able to occur, if we hope to sustain our threatened species and ecosystems. I encourage people to visit the website www.savethelocust.com This website is only a beginning and as the scientist will soon tell, lacks scientific backing. The sad fact is that locusts have only ever been viewed in one way and so positive scientific data is yet to be collected. It does contain numerous anecdotes and interesting links to research and stories from other parts of the world, including information about the "Rocky Mountains Locust" that went from "plagueing" the Prairies in the USA to suddenly extinct within the space of a decade. Happy reading  www.savethelocust.com
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Jan 6 2006, 09:18 PM
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Locusts are a natural part of the ecology and it is hard to say how much our activities have affected how they behave. But we do have to also be aware of potential for plague, keep track of when it happens and its impact on us. I am out harvesting native seed at the moment around the ACT. There are a lot of grasshoppers about - there usually are this time of year but on occasion the ground has virtually moved with them at the moment.
I do like them but understand the fear they generate in people trying to produce crops etc. It is not an either one way or the other situation. But we do have to be very aware of their place in the ecology and understand that in our management of them and the impact of our techniques. Australian Plague Locust Commission Current APLC research & publications P. G. Story and M. Cox 2001. Review of the effects of organophosphorous and carbamate insecticides on vertebrates. Are there implications for locust management in Australia? Wildlife Research 28 (2): 179-193. Also - as a moderators note. Can we try to keep this topic in this thread as we need to allow others to follow it and the points being made. There is a "Find New Posts" link at the top of the screen so people will find the topic easily. I am also merging some posts from the past on this subject. Some of the older news links will not work anymore though. - Stephen
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Jan 7 2006, 01:29 AM
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Just a damo's backyard update - here in Barooga - the number of hoppers are increasing
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Jan 8 2006, 07:22 PM
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#15
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Just quoting from a post elsewhere on forum,
From Eumong, http://www.envirotalk.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=5272 QUOTE About a year ago, we had our first Australian Plague locust migration for 25 years. As an open minded person I observed this event with great interest and respect. It soon became absolutely obvious that these events are a natural part of my environment. The effects of which were not unlike a good inland flood in the effect on wildlife abundance and increased breeding of birds, marsupials and reptiles. Australian Plague locusts concentrated on native grasslands to lay their overwintering egg in my area. It was amazing that they were able to locate each of these sites, some that were separated by some 50km of cereal crops and introduced pastures. The disturbance caused by the laying of the egg beds and the grazing of the native grasses increased the vigour of the grassland herbs in the following winter and resulted in a brilliant wildflower year in the native grassland sites. The following summer the egg beds hatched and we had hopper bands across each of the native grassland sites. These bands grazed the native vegetation but only after the native grassland plants had already flowered and set seed. Some later-flowering native plants showed adaptation to locusts (such as Eryngium sp, Ptilotus sp. and native C4 Grasses) and actually improved due to the reduced competition from C3 native grasses that the locusts grazed. Enourmous flocks of birds and large numbers of reptiles were enjoying the feast. I had not seen as much wildlife in my area since the 1992 flood year. Fat-tailed Dunnarts had a very succussful breeding and were seen to be recolonising places where they had not previously been seen. However such a wonderful occurrence was too good to last. Word got out into the media of the pending Locust Plague and the Victorian government staged a aerial spray assult. All grassland reserves including National parks were sprayed with a biological insecticide. These reserves are mostly very small and linear and so it is fair to say that most of the grassland sites would have been doused in the insecticide. The insecticide is considered suitable for environmentally sensitive sites because it has not shown to have adverse effects on vertebrate fauna. Unfortunately it does devastate a whole range of invertebrates. which are an extremly important part of native grasslands. Already with brief surveying I have found only dead "Grassland Froghoppers" which are a species of large wingless grasshopper that is endemic to the nationally endangered Riverina grasslands. This particular species has not been recorded in Victoria before. Given the fact that the grassland remnants in Victoria are so rare and disconnected, it is likely that this wingless species was restricted to these isolated sites. Every one of these sites was sprayed with insecticide. Only time will tell if the Grassland Froghopper is now extinct from my local grassland remnants. Being very active and busy with grassland issues, this interested me greatly. I like the grasshoppers, also have to travel miles between remnants and would like very much to shorten these distances. - Stephen
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Feb 2 2006, 06:18 AM
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The Fate of the Grassland Froghopper
The current methods of controlling native locusts in Australia, has environmental consequences. The discovery and manufacture of a biological insecticide called "Green Guard", based on Metarhizium fungus, was considered a giant leap forward and a cure for the envirometal hazards associated with broadscale chemical use, for the control of locusts. It and similar products are taking off all over the globe and are being promoted using such phrases as "specific to locusts", "kills only locusts and similar pests"and "safe for environmentally-sensitive sites". However the broadscale use of Metarhizium fungus based insecticide does have consequences and should not be considered safe for enviromentally-sensitive sites. The Fate of the Grassland Froghopper is a short story, outlining the recent possible extinction of a rare grassland animal due to the recent use (abuse?) of Green Guard in Victoria. This post has been edited by eumong: Feb 2 2006, 06:26 AM
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Feb 2 2006, 06:35 AM
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"timjim" Posted on Dec 22 2005, 08:14 PM
> Victoria is experiencing the worst locust plague in 30 years. The two areas > affected are Swifts Creek in East Gippsland and Mitiamo (south east of Swan > Hill).The locusts will be making their way south into Bendigo today or tomorrow. > Young locusts (before they can fly) are being sprayed with a fungus that > essentially rots out their guts. Adult locusts (that are capable of flight) are being > sprayed with a pesticide by aircraft. > They are causing significant economic damage to crops, but not being seen by a > lot of people. But once they hit Bendigo, then they will be making the papers! Funny you should be mentioning Bendigo - I was just up there last month - the 2nd of January (I believe). It was pretty much just a mild day (27ºc I believe) - but I didn't notice much in the way of locusts. Do they generally come around on hotter days though? Cheers. This post has been edited by CP/M User: Feb 2 2006, 06:36 AM
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Feb 2 2006, 06:48 AM
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The Fate of the Grassland Froghopper
The current methods of controlling native locusts in Australia, has environmental consequences. The discovery and manufacture of a biological insecticide called "Green Guard", based on Metarhizium fungus, was considered a giant leap forward and a cure for the envirometal hazards associated with broadscale chemical use, for the control of locusts. It and similar products are taking off all over the globe and are being promoted using such phrases as "specific to locusts", "kills only locusts and similar pests"and "safe for environmentally-sensitive sites". However the broadscale use of Metarhizium fungus based insecticide does have consequences and should not be considered safe for enviromentally-sensitive sites. The Fate of the Grassland Froghopperis a short story, outlining the recent possible extinction of a rare grassland animal due to the recent use (abuse?) of Green Guard in Victoria.
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Feb 11 2006, 06:34 AM
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Locusts as Food
A group of Queensland farmers applied for an export license to export Australia Plague Locust's, as food, to the middle east, back in the 1990's. Their application was rejected, because it was making use of a "pest" species. The following link describes a situation where farmers and villagers in the Phillipines were making great use of locusts, while the government desperately wanted to destroy the locust swarms with pesticides. Locust eating binge hampers control efforts In some regions of Africa, people regularly utilized locusts as a food source, in times of plagues. This nutritious food could be eaten fresh or dried for later use. The utilization of the locusts helped to make up for shortages, due to failed, or low yielding crops and in some cases helped to significantly reduce the density of locust swarms. Unfortunately now they can no longer safely utilize the locusts, due to the high risk of pesticide residues. These residues come from the insecticides that are regularly supplied to these countries as a form of "International Aid". The wisdom of the west! 8{ Visit www.savethelocust.com/?PageID=links2 to view more interesting information about locusts.
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Jun 3 2006, 10:12 PM
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Locust swarms play it by numbers
Like an army preparing for battle, locusts instinctively wait until their 'battalion' is large enough before falling into line and swarming ahead en masse, researchers find. The apparently leaderless group will fly around chaotically until the swarm reaches a certain density of numbers, when they immediately assemble and become an orderly, collective plague... ABC Science Online Friday, 2 June 2006
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