Central American locust (Schistocerca piceifrons)
| Schistocerca piceifrons | |
|---|---|
 Photo by Mario Poot-Pech | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Suborder: | Caelifera |
| Family: | Acrididae |
| Subfamily: | Cyrtacanthacridinae |
| Tribe: | Cyrtacanthacridini |
| Genus: | Schistocerca |
| Scientific name | |
| Schistocerca piceifrons (Walker, 1870) | |
| Geography | |
| Native countries: | |
| Pest status | |
| Known pest | |
The Central American Locust is a well-known swarming locust with two subspecies (Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons and Schistocerca piceifrons peruviana). S. p. piceifrons is one of the most harmful agricultural pests from southern Mexico to northern Costa Rica where at least 50,000 ha are treated annually.
Taxonomy
For full nomenclature and taxonomic details of this taxon, see Orthoptera Species File
Subspecies
- Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870)
- Schistocerca piceifrons urichi Arribálzaca, 1918
- Schistocerca piceifrons patiana (Posada-Aragno, 1879)
- Schistocerca piceifrons peruviana Lynch Arribalzaga, 1903
Identification
The Central American locust (Schistocerca piceifrons) is part of the subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae which contains many of the world’s most notorious locusts. These grasshoppers are typically large-bodied, strong fliers, and capable of forming swarms under favorable environmental conditions. Their ability to switch between solitary and gregarious phases, known as phase polyphenism, underlies their capacity for sudden population outbreaks. Important locust species include the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), the red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata), the South American locust (Schistocerca cancellata), the Bombay locust (Patanga succincta), and the Sahelian tree locust (Anacridium melanorhodon), the brown locust (Locustana pardalina), and the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria). Many of these species are adapted to arid and grassland environments across Africa, Asia, and Australia, where periodic rainfall can trigger rapid breeding and swarm development.
Morphologically, Cyrtacanthacridinae species are distinguished by the presence of a prosternal spine and robust hind femora adapted for jumping. Wing coloration, often featuring bright hindwings with yellow, red, or rose tones, serves as a key diagnostic feature.
Identification details
The gregarious nymph stage is described as green hatchlings that, when crowded, turn black and in the fifth instar appear pink with black markings.[1] [2] Gregarious nymphs are also completely black on the front, wing pads, and ventral part of the lateral lobes of the pronotum, with black marks across the upper hind-femur, and the background color is red or pink .[1] The gregarious immature adult is darker pink with darker marks on the tegmina.[3] The gregarious mature adult is bright yellow[2], with tegmina that extend beyond the length of the abdomen, a longitudinal black line on the upper external side of the posterior femur, and very well-defined black spots on the lower part of hind leg II.
The solitarious nymph is green, with a common black dorsal stripe along the pronotum and abdomen and a vertical black stripe below the eye.[1] The solitarious immature adult** is brown with light-brown tones. The solitarious adult** is green or brown.[3]
S. piceifrons has a history of misidentification and nomenclatural changes that’s led to confusion with, S. cancellata, S. gregaria, and S. americana.[4][5]
Identification resources
| Title | Author(s) | Year | Geographic purview | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nymphal Growth in Schistocerca | Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute | 2024 | View URL | |
| Action plan for managing the Central American locust | International Regional Organization of Plant and Animal Health | 2019 | View URL | |
| Operating manual for Central American locust control campaigns | Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria | 2019 | View URL | |
| Technical paper on the Central American locust | Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria | 2016 | View URL |
Distribution
The first official report on the CAL plague dates back to 1882–1883 when swarms of 20 km2 invaded the Yucatán Peninsula and southern Mexico [6] and references therein.The Central American locust (Schistocerca piceifrons) is a well-known swarming locust with two subspecies. The first (Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons) is found from southern Mexico throughout Central America. The second subspecies, Schistocerca piceifrons peruviana is found in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago. [5]
For more information and distribution records see [GBIF]
Biology and ecology
Habitat and ecology
S. p. piceifrons are found in dry tropical woodland habitats where annual rainfall is between 100 and 250 mm with no cold season and dry winters.[1] S. p. peruviana inhabits drier and colder places with a similar pattern of dry seasons. They can be found in central Peru up to an altitude of 2800 m a.s.l. and with an annual rainfall of 25-100 cm.[1]
In Mexico, S. piceifrons has two generations per year (spring and fall) variations depend on location and conditions. The spring generation is shorter (May to August or September). The fall generation hatch in October/November, in December/January, become adults, and can remain immature for the dry season depending on environmental conditions.[1] Any surviving adults at the end of the dry winter season become sexually mature after rainfall. In the laboratory, nymphal life averaged 45 days and six instars (occasionally only five in males) [7] In the field, time between final molt and sexual maturation varies and depends on environmental conditions.
Like other swarming locusts, this species has a solitarious and gregarious phase depending on the density of conspecifics.[1][8][4]
Less is known about S. p. peruviana in the Peruvian Andes, where there is greater variation in climate. There are two peaks of breeding activity during the wet season. Some first-generation adults do not mature until the following year and survive over winter to breed in the second breeding period.[1]
S. p. piceifrons use the patchy distribution of evergreen shrub Pisonia aculeate for refuge. The shrub is thought to potentially drive aggregation by concentrating locust densities.[9][10]
Land-use change
Over the last 30 years in the state of Yucatán, forest and jungles have rapidly converted to ranching and agricultural lands, increasing the preferred habitat of the CAL and therefore the potential for gregarization and swarming. [11]
Pest status
S. p. piceifrons is one of the most harmful agricultural pests from southern Mexico to northern Costa Rica[1][12], where at least 50,000 ha are treated yearly.[13] With continuous gregarious zones in Yucután and common outbreak areas in Veracruz, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Tabasco[10], this species outbreaks almost every year, demanding regular monitoring and pesticide treatments. S. p. peruviana is monitored and controlled regularly in Peru, however with no major outbreaks since 1945.[5]
As a generalist herbivore, the Central American locust is known to eat crops like maize, wheat, rice, palms, citrus, sunflower, soybeans lentil, wax myrtle, potato, tobacco, banana, sugarcane, sorghum, and others.[2][10]
Recent outbreaks
2018–2020
2020 was a year with high populations of Schistocerca piceifrons in Mexico. Due to the effect of climate change, the plague advanced and shortened its biological cycle. At the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, a swarm migrated in a SW direction, to the state of Campeche, and through their migration route, they crossed the capital city, Merida. Because the cycle was advanced, the end of the second generation cycle ended in January 2021. In 2020 3,420 ha were controlled, while in 2019 it was 813 ha, 4.2 times more. There was no damage to agricultural activity (Mario Poot-Pech Locust Control Coordinator for Comité Estatal de Sanidad Vegetal en el Estado de Yucatán (CESVY) pers. comm. with Mira Word on 1/9/2021).
The National Service of Agri-food Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) for the first time introduced drones to monitor of locust populations in addition to land-based monitoring.[14][15]
Outbreak media coverage
| Title | Author(s) | Year | Geographic purview | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSF BPRI video docuseries | Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute | 2025 | ||
| Watch: Swarm Of Locusts Invades Mexico's Skies In Rare Event | 2019 | |||
| Locust Swarm Takes Over Sky in Yucatan, Mexico | 2019 | |||
| Cerca del final del 2020 langostas atacan colonias de Mérida | 2020 | |||
| Surge plaga de langosta en Nuevo León | ||||
| Guatemala se declara en emergencia sanitaria por plaga de langosta | 2021 |
Associated organizations
| Organization name | Acronym | Website | Type | Focus | Focus keywords | Geographic purview |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute | BPRI | View | Other | Research, Education | Phenotypic plasticity, Phase polyphenism | United States, Mexico |
| Global Locust Initiative | GLI | View | University | Research, Education, Information Hub | Sustainable development, Ecology, Nutrition, Social science, Natural sciences, Agriculture, Agroecology, Biology, Behavior, Biological control, Climate change, Education, Sustainability science, Geometric framework, Grazing, Governance, Food security, Arts and humanities, Land use management, Landscape ecology, Locusts, Migration, Phase polyphenism, Phenotypic plasticity, Soil science | United States, Senegal, Australia, China, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mali |
| International Regional Organization of Plant and Animal Health | OIRSA | View | Intergovernmental Organization | Management, Governance, Education | Training, Regional cooperation, Monitoring, Control | Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic |
| National Council for Science and Technology | CONACYT | View | Government | Funding, Research | Mexico | |
| National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research | INIFAP | View | Government | Research | Mexico | |
| Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria | SAGARPA-SENASICA | View | Government | Governance, Management | Regional cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Natural sciences | Mexico |
| State Committee for Plant Health | CESAVE | View | Government | Information Hub, Management | Control, Monitoring, Forecasting, Training, Natural sciences | Mexico |
| State Committee for Plant Health in the State of Yucatan | CESVY | View | Government | Management, Education, Governance | Control, Training, Coordination, Natural sciences | Mexico |
Resources
| Title | Author(s) | Year | Geographic purview | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nymphal Growth in Schistocerca | Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute | 2024 | View URL | |
| South American Acridia management dashboard | The National Food Safety and Quality Service | 2023 | View URL | |
| South American locust WhatsApp Alert Channel | The National Food Safety and Quality Service | 2023 | ||
| Situation and recommendations for controlling the Central American locust in the countries of the OIRSA region | International Regional Organization of Plant and Animal Health | 2020 | View URL | |
| Action plan for managing the Central American locust | International Regional Organization of Plant and Animal Health | 2019 | View URL | |
| Operating manual for Central American locust control campaigns | Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria | 2019 | View URL | |
| Situation of locust and grasshopper plagues in South America December 2022 | Comité de Sanidad Vegetal del Cono Sur, The National Food Safety and Quality Service, Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria e Inocuidad Alimentaria, National Plant and Seed Health and Quality Service, Servivio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria and National Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishery | 2022 | View URL | |
| GICSV 2020 International Year of the Plant Health technical reports | Inter-American Coordinating Group in Plant Protection | 2021 | ||
| CABI Green Muscle education videos | Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International | 2021 | ||
| Technical paper on the Central American locust | Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria | 2016 | View URL |
Specimen contributors for this species
Bionomia links specimen records in GBIF to the people who collected and identified them. Each list shows the top 20 for this species. Read more…
Collected by
People who collected specimens of this species in the field.
- David Marcelo Torres Arizaga — 3 specimens collected
- Gilberto M González Kuk — 1 specimen collected
Identified by
People who determined the taxonomic identity of specimens of this species.
- Gilberto M González Kuk — 1 specimen identified
- David Marcelo Torres Arizaga — 1 specimen identified
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Harvey AW (1983) Schistocerca piceifrons (Walker) (Orthoptera: Acrididae), the swarming locust of tropical America: a review. Bulletin of Entomological Research 73: 171–184. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485300008786
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 COPR (1982) The locust and grasshopper agricultural manual. 302-305.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Barrientos-Lozano L, Song H, Rocha-Sánchez AY, Torres-Castillo JA (2021) State of the Art Management of the Central American Locust Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870). Agronomy 11: 1024. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Song H, Weissman D, Barrientos-Lozano L, Cano-Santana Z (2006) The Locust Island. American Entomologist 52: 168–181. https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/52.3.168
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Le Gall M, Overson R, Cease A (2019) A global review on locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and their interactions with livestock grazing practices. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 263. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00263
- ↑ Barrientos-Lozano L, Song H, Rocha-Sánchez AY, Torres-Castillo JA (2021) State of the Art Management of the Central American Locust Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870). Agronomy 11: 1024. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061024
- ↑ Hunter-Jones P (1967) Life History of the Central American Locust, Schistocerca sp. (Orthoptera: Acrididae), in the Laboratory. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 60: 468–477. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/60.2.468
- ↑ Sword GA (2003) To be or not to be a locust? A comparative analysis of behavioral phase change in nymphs of Schistocerca americana and S. gregaria. Journal of Insect Physiology 49: 709–717. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1910(03)00092-1
- ↑ Poot-Pech MA, Ruiz-Sánchez E, Ballina-Gómez HS, Gamboa-Angulo MM, Reyes-Ramírez A (2016) Olfactory response and host plant feeding of the Central American locust Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons Walker to common plants in a gregarious zone. Neotropical Entomology 45: 382–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-016-0385-y
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Cullen DA, Cease AJ, Latchininsky AV, Ayali A, Berry K, Buhl J, De Keyser R, Foquet B, Hadrich JC, Matheson T, Ott SR, Poot-Pech MA, Robinson BE, Smith JM, Song H, Sword GA, Vanden Broeck J, Verdonck R, Verlinden H, Rogers SM (2017) From Molecules to Management: Mechanisms and Consequences of Locust Phase Polyphenism. In: Advances in Insect Physiology. Elsevier, 167–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aiip.2017.06.002
- ↑ Poot-Pech MA (2016) La langosta voladora Schistocerca piceifrons (Orthoptera: Acrididae): hacia un manejo sustentable. In: El Patrimonio, su Importancia y Conservación. San Francisco de Campeche, 58–66.
- ↑ Barrientos Lozano L, Astacio Cabrera O, Alvarez Bonilla F, Poot Martínez O (1992) Manual tecnico sobre la Langosta voladora, Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870), y otros acridoideos de centro america y sureste de Mexico. FAO, FAO San Salvador (El Salvador) OIRSA, San Salvador (El Salvador), 162 pp.
- ↑ Barrientos Lozano L, Hernández-Velázquez VM, Milner RJ, Hunter DM (2002) Advances in Biological Control of Locusts and Grasshoppers in Mexico. Journal of Orthoptera Research 11: 77–82.
- ↑ Senasica-DGSV. Manual Operativo de la Campaña Contra la Langosta Centroamericana [Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870)] (Orthoptera: Acrididae), 1st ed.; Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria–Dirección General de Sanidad Vegetal: Ciudad de México, Mexico, 2019; pp. 1–80. Available online: https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/483901/Manual_Langosta_Junio_2019.pdf (accessed on 7 September 2021).
- ↑ Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA). Plan de Acción de Manejo de la Langosta Centroamericana, 1st ed.; Secretaría General del Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana: San Salvador, El Salvador, 2020; pp. 1–80. Available online: https://www.oirsa.org/contenido/2020/(17%20marzo2020)%20Plan%20de%20accio%CC%81n%20y%20atencio%CC%81n%20de%20brotes%20corregido%202.pdf (accessed on 7 September 2021).