The Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) was a species of locust that ranged through the western half of the United States and some western portions of Canada until the end of the 19th century. It was a massive pest, and one swarm was estimated to be as long as 198,000 square miles (510,000 km2) in size (greater than the area of California), weighing 27.5 million tons and consisting of some 12.5 trillion insects, the greatest concentration of animals ever speculatively guessed, according to Guinness Book of World Records.
Interesting articles about writers' descriptions on them during the time they were alive:
https://timeline.com/in-the-1870s-1...lains-and-then-they-went-extinct-6f7c51a15d90
https://www.hcn.org/issues/243/13695
Then, less than 30 years later, the species went extinct. The last recorded sighting of a live specimen was apparently in 1902 in southern Canada. The cause of their extinction is not entirely known and still hotly debated, but it is often hypothesized that plowing and irrigation by settlers in the Great Plains, particularly alongside the Mississippi river, disrupted their natural life cycle in the areas they lived in between swarms. In short, the settlers unintentionally killed off a great enemy of theirs.
It was once theorized that because locusts are a form of grasshopper that appear when grasshopper populations reach high densities, M. spretus might not be extinct, that "solitary phase" individuals of a migratory grasshopper might be able to turn into the Rocky Mountain locust given the right environmental conditions; however, breeding experiments using many grasshopper species in high-density environments failed to invoke the famous insect. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from museum specimens and related species suggests that the Rocky Mountain locust was a distinct and now extinct species, possibly closely related to the Bruner spurthroat grasshopper (Melanoplus bruneri).
What I find incredible is not only that a swarm existed that was larger than California, but also that the very same species was completely wiped out in a short space of time afterwards.
If this is correct, then this might very well be the first time humans have completely eliminated a significant agricultural pest, let alone by accident.
But what if the Rocky Mountain locust didn't go extinct? Could the above have been a way where they could have survived? What would a swarm of such a magnitude described above have looked like in modern day? Would they have been as significant a pest as they were back then, for that matter?
Interesting articles about writers' descriptions on them during the time they were alive:
https://timeline.com/in-the-1870s-1...lains-and-then-they-went-extinct-6f7c51a15d90
https://www.hcn.org/issues/243/13695
Then, less than 30 years later, the species went extinct. The last recorded sighting of a live specimen was apparently in 1902 in southern Canada. The cause of their extinction is not entirely known and still hotly debated, but it is often hypothesized that plowing and irrigation by settlers in the Great Plains, particularly alongside the Mississippi river, disrupted their natural life cycle in the areas they lived in between swarms. In short, the settlers unintentionally killed off a great enemy of theirs.
It was once theorized that because locusts are a form of grasshopper that appear when grasshopper populations reach high densities, M. spretus might not be extinct, that "solitary phase" individuals of a migratory grasshopper might be able to turn into the Rocky Mountain locust given the right environmental conditions; however, breeding experiments using many grasshopper species in high-density environments failed to invoke the famous insect. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from museum specimens and related species suggests that the Rocky Mountain locust was a distinct and now extinct species, possibly closely related to the Bruner spurthroat grasshopper (Melanoplus bruneri).
What I find incredible is not only that a swarm existed that was larger than California, but also that the very same species was completely wiped out in a short space of time afterwards.
If this is correct, then this might very well be the first time humans have completely eliminated a significant agricultural pest, let alone by accident.
But what if the Rocky Mountain locust didn't go extinct? Could the above have been a way where they could have survived? What would a swarm of such a magnitude described above have looked like in modern day? Would they have been as significant a pest as they were back then, for that matter?
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