I'm totally ignorant of entomology, so I freely admit I don't know the difference between a huge grasshopper, and a locust. But when I was out in the middle of the jungle of Honduras a few years ago, there was a gigantic grasshopper / locust that was easily the size of a softball... really, bigger... probably like one of those small basketballs that kids play with. It had this gigantic spikes running all up and down it's huge hind legs. I used an out house by an old dirt road (I basically was pissing in a ditch) and this grasshopper thing was hanging out on one of the urinal trough, and I had to piss while it sat there and looked at me. I had to pass in front of it in order to get to the rest of the troughs, and it just started at me intently... waiting to attack as I was relieving myself. The thing was f**king huge... I mean, gigantic.
I'm totally ignorant of entomology, so I freely admit I don't know the difference between a huge grasshopper, and a locust. .
The 'difference' is not in appearance or biological manifestations.
There is no specific locust species but there are grasshopper species. The only difference between a grasshopper and a locust is behavior. Grasshoppers are generally independent while locust are gregarious. It is accurate to state "All locusts are grasshoppers but not all grasshoppers are locust.".
What Are Grasshoppers? Grasshoppers are ground-dwelling insects which go through a phase of incomplete metamorphosis before developing into the adult stage. As grasshoppers mostly live on the ground, they have very powerful hind legs which are adapted for escape in case they are threatened. Grasshoppers are closely similar to locusts though grasshoppers can only fly for shorter distances. Grasshoppers mostly exist within a solitary phase with little to no threat to crops. Within the solitary phase, grasshoppers are disorganized, each leading its way of life. However, some grasshopper species develop gregarious behavior under suitable conditions becoming locusts.
What Are Locusts? Locusts are grasshoppers which develop gregarious characteristics in suitable environmental conditions forming an organized group. Such conditions are particularly driven by a period of dense vegetative growth after a dry spell. Drought drives locusts to crowd in small areas where there is vegetation. Locusts then abandon their solitary phase as grasshoppers and reproduce at dramatically high rates forming bands of nymphs and swarms as adults. The transition from the solitary phase is triggered by the secretion of the hormone serotonin which has been linked to boosting moods in humans. In their swarms, locusts move in a single direction making stopovers on any green area they notice. This movement causes extensive damage to crops. Locusts are known to cover long distances in short periods leaving behind a trail of damage. "If we cannot control the inheritance within us, this will be their second dead planet."
Quatermass 5,000,000 years to....
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 02-27-2020).]
Last August, the secretive agency [DARPA] posted a request for information on Twitter that included an ask for an underground lair. In January, a post to the Federal Business Opportunities website sought concepts that could utilize insect brains to control robots.
