The Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) is an extinct species of grasshopper that ranged through the western half of the United States and some western portions of Canada with large numbers seen until the end of the 19th century.

Locusts have formed plagues since prehistory. The ancient Egyptians carved them on their tombs and the insects are mentioned in the Iliad, the Mahabharata, the Bible and Quran. Swarms have devastated crops and have caused famines and human migrations.

2005年1月1日 · The Rocky Mountain grasshopper, or locust, was a migratory insect that in peak population years spread over the Great Plains from Canada to Texas and periodically devastated the crops of homesteaders and farmers.

2017年7月26日 · Locusts are grasshoppers that can form dense migrating swarms through an extreme form of density-dependent phenotypic plasticity, known as locust phase polyphenism. We present a comprehensive...

2016年10月5日 · Entomology student Brandon Woo ’19 identified three specimens of the extinct Rocky Mountain locust that had been at Cornell since around 1893. While organizing drawers of unidentified grasshopper specimens at the Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC), something caught the eye of Brandon Woo ’19.

2022年12月1日 · By far the most parsimonious explanation for the pit full of locust remains in the cave is deposition by prehistoric human foragers. The production of grasshopper cakes was a common subsistence practice among ethnographic and prehistoric Native American groups in the Great Basin and we believe that the overriding cultural context for the locust ...

2018年6月14日 · The Rocky Mountain locust has been considered extinct for more than a century now. Mining, plowing, and ranching in the valleys of the Rockies, where the grasshoppers originated, are thought to have so transformed their habitat that they no longer bred.

2024年9月22日 · Locusts have plagued human societies since prehistoric times, evident in ancient Egyptian tomb carvings and references in works like the Iliad and the Mahabharata. These swarming insects have wreaked havoc on crops, causing famines and mass migrations across continents, except Antarctica.

The Rocky Mountain locust might be a candidate for de-extinction. Scientists would potentially use DNA from the hundreds of specimens found in collections and glaciers. The United States has done a lot to protect its wildlife, but would the Rocky Mountain locust help or hinder the current wildlife of the Rocky Mountains & Great Plains if it ...

2011年10月21日 · For the most part which species of locust is being referred to in historical accounts is unclear but the history of locust plagues shows how pervasive plagues were, and when records are more complete in later history seemingly almost continuous in occurrence.