Locust plague encircles Mexico's Cancun resort

[babylonsister]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/09/26/mexico.locusts.reut/index.html

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Clouds of locusts have descended around the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, destroying corn crops and worrying officials in a region still recovering from the devastating fury of last year's Hurricane Wilma.

Traveling in dark fogs, locusts are grasshoppers that have entered a swarming phase, capable of covering large distances and rapidly stripping fields of vegetation.

"Imagine, they fly in the form of a flock. Imagine the width of a street," government official Martin Rodriguez said on Tuesday, describing the fields around Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Towns have formed pesticide-armed brigades and are winning the war against the 3-week-old plague that has left tourist areas unharmed, authorities said.

Squads wait until night to blast the flying insects as they are roosting on plants. They carry motorized backpack pumps to shoot chemicals in a fight that has affected from 2,000 to 2,500 acres (800 to 1,000 hectares) of farm land.

more...

[RebelOne]

1. Wait until the RaptureReady.com kooks get wind of this.

They'll be saying that it is a sign of the end times.

[AtLiberty]

2. JESUS IS COMING!!!

Hope all of you are right with the Lord.

[LiberalEsto]

3. These are vacationing Republicans

Be afraid.

[Boomer]

4. Hey, I didn't know that

>> locusts are grasshoppers that have entered a swarming phase...

Huh. I always assumed that locusts and grasshoppers were different insects, not the same one exhibiting different behavior.

[skids]

5. There's a very interesting documentary...

...where they show how to turn a green one into a brown one. All you have to do is repeatedly poke it in this one spot IIRC on its leg. This simulates being poked by others in overcrowded situation, and activates the mode change from green grasshopper to brown swarm-ready locust.

I'm sure there are different species within that though, perhaps even some grasshopper species that don't have the ability to go locust.

[Boomer]

6. Thanks!

That's a fascinating tidbit of knowledge.