Talk:Red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)

Notes

Species Name: Taxonomy and Distribution:

Red Locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata) According to the FAO: The Red Locust is a hazardous insect pest to agriculture in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa and breeds in specific grassland areas located in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCOCSA) member states: Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania.

Breeding grounds or impacted countries: Mweru wa Ntipa plains and the Kafue flats Zambia The Rukwa Valley in south-western Tanzania The Malagarasi and Wembere plains in central Tanzania Lake Chilwa in southern Malawi The Busi-Gorongosa flood plains in Mozambique, and to a lesser extent southern Madagascar (also found in the Cape Verde Islands, Mauritius and Reunion)

Other important breeding areas are the central Niger delta in Mali and the southern shores of Lake Chad. 

(Lecoq, Chamouine, and Luong-Skovmand 2011) The last widespread plague occurred from 1929-1944 when almost all of central and south Africa was invaded. Before that: Natal between 1847 and 1854 (Gunn, 1952) then 1882 and 1910, was thought to have originated from Zambia and possibly Malawi (Gunn, 1952) (Mulele and Ngolwe 1999) Major upsurge in 1994-96: Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique Upsurge in Tanzania 2009- FAO organized a control campaign 2 million dollars Tanzania is not listed as an OFDA main country but there is evidence that they have supported emergency aid efforts through USAID in Tanzania Media 2009: FAO Red Locust disaster in Eastern Africa prevented

An interesting excerpt from (Price and Brown, 2000.) “With only one generation per year the Red Locust is vulnerable to chemical control and the last major plague cycle (1927–44) ended when the first organochlorine insecticides became available (Gunn, 1960). However, recent population upsurges in southern Africa have demonstrated that outbreaks are difficult to detect in the remote and often inaccessible flooded grasslands (Brown and Price, 1997). Once adult swarms have escaped from these outbreak areas, the highly mobile swarms are difficult to track down and control in the vast invasion area. For example, swarms escaping from an intense outbreak in the Buzi river flood plain grasslands in Mozambique in 1996 flew over 2000 km through Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, with swarms observed over Pretoria for the first time in 50 years.”

2017 Red locust outbreak media http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-01/14/c_135981151.htm https://www.africanfarming.com/red-locust-swarm-swells-in-zambia/ https://www.africanfarming.com/malawis-fight-red-locust-hits-snag/

Red Locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata) According to the FAO, the Red Locust is a hazardous pest to agriculture in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. It breeds in specific grassland areas located in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia [9]. The Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCOCSA) member states include: Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania. Red Locust outbreaks occur in approximately nine small, seasonally flooded grassland locations in Central and East Africa. Specifically, Mweru wa Ntipa plains and the Kafue flats in Zambia, the Rukwa Valley in south-western Tanzania, the Malagarasi and Wembere plains in central Tanzania, lake Chilwa in southern Malawi, the Buzi-Gorongosa flood plains in Mozambique, and to a lesser extent southern Madagascar (also found in the Cape Verde Islands, Mauritius, and Reunion). Other important breeding areas are the central Niger delta in Mali and the southern shores of Lake Chad [10,11].

The last widespread plague occurred from 1929-1944 when almost all of central and south Africa was invaded. More recently, major upsurges occured in 1994-96 in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. As recent as 2009, Tanzania experienced a severe upsurge with a FAO control campaign costing 2 million dollars [9]. [6]

The Red Locust only has one generation per year [11] making chemical control effective. However, preventative management is difficult due to the remote and often inaccessible breeding areas of flooded grasslands. Once an outbreak has left the point of origin, the Red Locust is highly mobile, capable of migrating long distances. Price and Brown (2000) report swarms in 1996 from Mozambique flew over 2000 km through Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

Overview Tropical swarming locust Food preferences: Feeding behavior: Life Cycle:

Adult Identification Body color: Gregarious adults: Solitarious: Body Length: Wings: Head: Upper part of hind leg: Lower part of hind leg: Antenna:

Nymph Identification Body color: Solitarious nymphs Gregarious nymphs In the laboratory In the field

Identification: photos Habitat and Ecology: Land-Use Change: deforestation in Madagascar has been shown to promote outbreaks of red locusts Franc A, Soti V, Tran A, Leclair D, Duvallet G, Duranton J-F. 2008 New migration pathways and outbreaks of the red locust Nomadacris septemfasciata (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in the Sofia River Basin. In Conference SDH-SAGEO, Montpellier, 23–26 June, pp. 1–7. Montpellier, France. Recent Outbreaks: 2020 Media Coverage: Dryland crop production threatened March 10, 2021 https://www.namibian.com.na/99751/read/Dryland-crop-production-threatened

Associated Management/Research Institutions: References Additional Papers Article Studies on the Red Locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serville) (Acrididae: Cyrtacanthacridinae): Bibliography for the period 1940–1998 A Locust Plague in the Making: Upsurges of the Red Locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serville) in Buzi-Gorongosa Outbreak Area, Mozambique in 1996 Advances and Review of Strategies for Red Locust Plague Prevention: The Control of Red Locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serville) into the 21st Century The Bahi Plains—An Additional Red Locust Outbreak Area in Central Tanzania? The First Trial of a Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum Mycoinsecticide for the Control of the Red Locust in a Recognised Outbreak Area