Plague of Locusts Hits Egypt, Israel on High Alert

ORIGINAL: ScienceSpaceRobots

Egypt has been hit by a huge plague of locusts. The Week reports that there are estimated to be about 30 million locusts in the massive swarm. Crop damage has been reported in the region. Cairo residents set tires on fire to help keep the flying insects out of the city. Israel is also on high alert for the locust plague.

Locusts belong to the Acrididae class of insects. When the environmental conditions are right the insects can breed rapidly and form nomadic swarms that reach incredible numbers. The locust swarms can devour large fields of crops, which has lead to outbreaks of famine among humans in the past. A locust entry on National Geographic says the insects range in size from 0.5 to 3 inches (1.2 to 7.5 cm). The entry also says swarms of desert locusts can reach 460 square miles in size. 

Here is a video of the swarm: 

Posted on March 4, 2013