Mary Allen
Locusts are an order of insects. They include over 25,000 different species. One group of these is the crickets. The German word comes from the early Middle Ages: “Frighten” means a sudden opening.
The different grasshoppers all have powerful hind legs for jumping. The front wings are short, the rear much longer. When they rub their wings or legs together, they make a loud chirping sound. The males use these sounds to attract the females to mate with them.
Like all insects, locusts lay eggs, either on leaves or in the ground. Larvae hatch from them. They shed their skins again and again and become locusts.
With their mandibles, most grasshoppers eat all sorts of things. Grasshoppers especially like grass. Other species prefer small insects.
Some locusts eat away crops in agriculture. Huge swarms ensure that large fields are eaten bare in a short time. That’s why people fight locusts. As a result, every fourth locust species in Europe is threatened with extinction.