00:00They may be the size and weight of your average paper clip, but locusts have the ability to
00:07devastate crops and cause major agricultural damage.
00:11These days, more videos are being shared on social media depicting swarms of locusts,
00:16including in India, Pakistan, China, and now more recently in the UAE.
00:21But why do these usually solitary and docile creatures change their habits at certain points
00:27of the year to come in a group of millions and cause destruction of vegetation?
00:33The ones we generally encounter in the UAE are the desert locusts.
00:37They're a notorious species, according to the National Geographic, and are mostly found
00:42in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
00:45Desert locust plagues can actually eat 423 million pounds of plants a day.
00:51Locusts are related to grasshoppers that have larger hind legs.
00:55This helps them bounce higher and further.
00:57There is a scary science to why they go from being calm solitary insects to gregarious
01:03hungry bugs.
01:05It all has to do with the weather conditions.
01:08Basically, locusts are looking for something to eat.
01:11They're herbivores, so will feed on crops and plants.
01:15During dry seasons, they end up in the same areas where the spaces still have some greenery
01:20left.
01:21Once the locusts are together, a hormone called serotonin is released into their body, which
01:27makes them hungry, social, and makes them move rapidly.
01:33If you've noticed, most videos of locusts in the UAE were taken after rainfall.
01:39That is because moist soil is a perfect environmental condition for locusts to reproduce.
01:45So they start laying eggs, and in less than a few weeks, these eggs hatch.
01:49The gregarious phase happens when locusts are near each other in large numbers.
01:54It isn't just a biochemical change, it also changes the insect physically.
01:59They become brighter in color, their brains become larger, and they have stronger hind
02:04legs, which increases their endurance.
02:07This is when you see them flying in groups of millions in the sky.
02:10But you don't have to worry about locusts hurting you.
02:14Locusts generally do not attack people or animals, and they also don't carry any diseases
02:19that harm humans.
02:20But what we should worry about is our planet.
02:23Some experts worry that locust plagues will worsen in a warming world, which means more
02:28crop damage and less food to feed the hungry.
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