Media centre for the locust campaign

Welcome to NSW DPI locust media centre. This section is provided to help journalists and others obtain the latest information, facts, media releases, photos and other media on NSW DPI 2011/12 locust campaign.

Videos

Locust advertisement

• Watch on YouTube
• Download 30 second version [2.3Mb wmv]
• Download 16 second version  [0.8Mb wmv]

The Australian plague locust

• Watch on YouTube

Characteristics, lifecycle, damage and control of the Australian plague locust.

Images

Image downloads
High resolution images from various locust NSW locust campaigns

Interesting facts

• A swarm covering one kilometre can eat up to 10 tonnes of vegetation per day.
• If 100 hectares of locust bands are not effectively controlled they may develop into 1,000 hectares of adult swarms.
• Past campaigns have shown that for every $1,000 spent controlling locusts, at least $20,000 worth of crops and pastures have been saved.
• Australian plague locusts generally mature within two weeks of becoming adult.
• Females can commence egg laying 4-7 days after maturing.
• In summer, eggs can hatch within 14–16 days.
• emale locusts lay eggs in batches, called pods, in the soil and each pod can contain up to 60 eggs.
• Locust “bands” can contain up to 15,000 hoppers per square metre at the front of the band.
• Swarms generally fly within 15 m of the ground and frequently at less than 3m and often appear to roll across the countryside.
• Swarms can infest areas up to 50 km2.
• Locusts can migrate up to 600 km or more in a single night.
• A swarm of locusts, covering 1 kilometre (km)2, could contain anything from 4 million to over 50 million individual locusts.
• People in several countries eat locusts. Locusts are rich in protein and can be stir-fried, roasted or boiled.
• See also our Frequently Asked Questions