Quick Facts
Locusts
Schistocerca Gregaria
General Information
Files And Media
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Adult female locusts can have upto 300 young each in a 3 week period
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Female adult locust lay egg sacks in soil or sand
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locust nymphs cannot fly only hop
Diet
The diet of a desert locust is wide and varied and they are not fussy eaters requiring a specific diet. Locust can eat vast amounts off food and are considered one of the worst pest spices. diet can be broken down in to 3 sections. Carbohydrates protein and moisture.
Carbohydrates- Bread oats and nuts are recommended as the main source of carbs for the insects. They should also be fed vegetables for extra carbs and micro nutrients.
Protein- The most overlooked part of any insect diet is protein. Many insect keepers make the mistake of giving no protein source whatsoever, this mistake leads to cannibalism and egg eating as well as less egg production and laying.
I would recommend dry or wet cat or dog food. If the food is dry it will need to be crushed first. You can also use nuts, soybeans and or egg powder.
Moisture- Insects can get all of there moisture from vegetables. I would recommend cucumber as the best source for this but almost every vegetable can be used but you should avoid citrus and acidic fruits. You could also mist to keep the insects more healthy. Bug gel could also be used but can be expensive. Bug gel will eliminate food molding.
Locusts are commonly yellow insects that hop and fly in swarms at speeds up to 33km a hour!
Locusts commonly sold in pet shops as reptile feed are desert locusts native to the middle east/africa. They swarm in large numbers and can wipe out entire food crops in the region.
They have a 8 week lifespan with adults being quite large at 55-70 mm long, although large they are clumsy and harmless.
Adult locusts can hop very far for there size up to 0.9M.
Female locusts lay up to 5 egg sacks over there adult life in the sand or soil with each egg sack containing up to 30 locust nympths
Life Cycle
Desert locusts common in the live food industry go threw 3 life stages and do not go threw metamorphosis so there is no pupa stage.
The life stages of a destert locust is-
egg- 10 days+ to hatch depending on temperature
nymph- young locust/ sub adult
adult- can live for up to 6 months depending on conditions.
when a adult female locust has mated she will begin to incubate a egg sack. When ready she will deposit quite a large egg sack in moist soil or sand.
The egg sack can contain up to 100 locust eggs but more commonly around 30, the eggs are around 1cm long and are a sand color. The egg sack can be easily seen by eye and removed form the soil but you will need to keep them hydrated as the egg sack absorbs moisture form the surrounding soil.
