Editing Locust (section)

==Interaction with humans and animals==

===Ancient times===

[[File:Maler der Grabkammer des Horemhab 002.jpg|thumb|Locust detail from a hunt mural in the grave-chamber of [[Horemhab]], [[Ancient Egypt]], ''circa'' 1422–1411 BC]]

Study of literature shows how pervasive plagues of locusts were over the course of history. The insects arrived unexpectedly, often after a change of wind direction or weather, and the consequences were devastating. The Ancient Egyptians carved locusts on tombs in the period 2470 to 2220 BC. A devastating plague in Egypt is mentioned in the [[Book of Exodus]] in the Bible.<ref name=Krall453>{{cite book|author1=Krall, S.|author2=Peveling, R.|author3=Diallo, B.D. |title=New Strategies in Locust Control |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6ndBQiTiRAC&pg=PA453 |year=1997 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-7643-5442-8 |pages=453–454}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Book of Exodus |at=10: 13–15 |quote=And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.  14 And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.  15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.}}</ref> Locust plague is mentioned in the Indian ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRzcSZPahZ0C&q=locusts+mahabharata&pg=PA93 |title=The Mahabharata |date=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-310016-4 |page=93}}</ref> The ''[[Iliad]]'' mentions locusts taking to the wing to escape fire.<ref>{{cite web |author=Homer |title=Iliad 21.1 |website=Perseus Tufts |access-date=16 August 2017 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D21%3Acard%3D1}}</ref> Plagues of locusts are mentioned in the Quran.<ref name=Showler>{{cite book |editor=John L. Capinera |year=2008 |title=Encyclopedia of Entomology |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |isbn=978-1-4020-6242-1 |chapter=Desert locust, ''Schistocerca gregaria'' Forskål (Orthoptera: Acrididae) plagues |author= Showler, Allan T. |pages=1181–1186 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9ITMiiohVQC&pg=PA118}}</ref> In the ninth century BC, the Chinese authorities appointed anti-locust officers.<ref name=Spinage2012/> In the [[New Testament]], John the Baptist was said to survive in the wilderness on locusts and wild honey; and human-headed locusts appear in the [[Book of Revelation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Revelation 9:7 - King James Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%209%3A7&version=KJV |access-date=2021-12-26 |website=Bible Gateway}}</ref>

[[Aristotle]] studied locusts and their breeding habits and [[Livy]] recorded a devastating plague in [[Capua]] in 203 BC. He mentioned human epidemics following locust plagues which he associated with the stench from the putrifying corpses; the linking of human disease outbreaks to locust plagues was widespread. A pestilence in the northwestern provinces of China in 311 AD that killed 98% of the population locally was blamed on locusts, and may have been caused by an increase in numbers of [[rat]]s (and their [[flea]]s) that devoured the locust carcasses.<ref name="Spinage2012">{{cite book |last=McNeill |first=William H. |title=Plagues and Peoples |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-385-12122-4 |page=146}}</ref>

=== Recent times ===

[[File:Diagrams of Locusts which swarmed over England in 1748.jpg|thumb|Locusts which swarmed over England in 1748: Drawing by [[William Delacour|De la Cour]]; engraved by R. White, in [[Thomas Pennant]]'s ''A Tour in Wales'', 1781]]

During the last two millennia, desert locust plagues have appeared sporadically in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Other species of locusts caused havoc in North and South America, Asia, and Australasia; in China, 173 outbreaks over 1924 years.<ref name=Spinage2012/> The [[Nomadacris succincta|Bombay locust]] (''Nomadacris succincta'') was a major pest in India and southeastern Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries, but has seldom swarmed since the last plague in 1908.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0hdl--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-10&cl=CL1.10&d=HASHd1edbf77fbe3fa2e5e3da5.7.3&gc=0 |title=Bombay locust – ''Nomadacris succincta'' |work=Locust Handbook |publisher=Humanity Development Library |access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref>

In the spring of 1747 locusts arrived outside [[Damascus]] eating the majority of the crops and vegetation of the surrounding countryside. One local barber, Ahmad al-Budayri, recalled the locusts "came like a black cloud. They covered everything: the trees and the crops. May God Almighty save us!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Grehan |first=James |title=Twilight of the Saints:Everyday Religion in Ottoman Syria and Palestine |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=1}}</ref>

The extinction of the [[Rocky Mountain locust]] has been a source of puzzlement. It had swarmed throughout the west of the United States and parts of Canada in the 19th century. [[Albert's swarm]] of 1875 was estimated to contain 12.5 trillion insects covering an area of {{convert|198000|sqmi|km2}} (larger than the state of [[California]]) and to weigh 27.5 million tons.<ref name=diversity>{{cite web |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Melanoplus_spretus.html |title=''Melanoplus spretus'', Rocky Mountain grasshopper |work=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology |access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> The last specimen was seen alive in Canada in 1902. Recent research suggests the breeding grounds of this insect in the valleys of the [[Rocky Mountains]] came under sustained agricultural development during the large influx of [[gold mining|gold miners]],<ref name="Encarta">Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 DVD. ''Rocky Mountain Locust''.</ref> destroying the underground eggs of the locust.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.denver-rmn.com/millennium/0622mile.shtml |author=Ryckman, Lisa Levitt |title=The great locust mystery |newspaper=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |date=22 June 1999 |access-date=20 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070228084636/http://www.denver-rmn.com/millennium/0622mile.shtml |archive-date=28 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lockwood |first=Jeffrey A. |year=2005 |title=Locust: the Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swJWsR5CFu0C&pg=PR5 |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=978-0-465-04167-1}}</ref>

The [[1915 Ottoman Syria locust infestation|1915 infestation]] across Palestine and Syria was one of the main contributors to [[Great Famine of Mount Lebanon|famine in Lebanon]] which lasted from 1915 to 1918 during which around 200,000 people died.<ref name="Ghazal 2016">{{cite news |last=Ghazal |first=Rym |title=Lebanon's dark days of hunger: The Great Famine of 1915–18 |url=http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/lebanons-dark-days-of-hunger-the-great-famine-of-1915-18 |access-date=24 January 2016 |publisher=The National |date=14 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="BBC 2014">{{cite news |title=Six unexpected WW1 battlegrounds |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30098000 |access-date=24 January 2016 |work=BBC News |date=26 November 2014}}</ref> Plagues became less common in the 20th century, but they continue to occur when the conditions are met.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/locust-plague-climate-science-east-africa/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216120605/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/locust-plague-climate-science-east-africa |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 February 2020 |title=A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame |last=Stone |first=Madeleine |date=14 February 2020 |website=National Geographic |access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ahmed |first=Kaamil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/20/locust-crisis-poses-a-danger-to-millions-forecasters-warn|title=Locust crisis poses a danger to millions, forecasters warn |date=20 March 2020 |work=The Guardian |access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref>

=== Monitoring ===

[[File:Eugenio Morales en el Sáhara Español (1942).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Eugenio Morales Agacino]] on expedition monitoring locusts in the desert of [[Spanish Sahara]], 1942]]

Early intervention to prevent large locust swarms is more successful than later action once swarms have built up. The means to control locust populations is now available, but organisational, financial, and political problems may be difficult to overcome. Monitoring is the key to early detection and eradication. Ideally, a sufficient proportion of nomadic bands can be killed with insecticide before their swarming phase. This may be possible in richer countries like Morocco and Saudi Arabia, but neighbouring poorer countries such as [[Mauritania]] and [[Yemen]] lack the resources and may breed locust swarms that threaten the whole region.<ref name=Showler/>

Several organisations around the world monitor the threat from locusts. They provide forecasts detailing regions likely to suffer from locust plagues in the near future. In Australia, this service is provided by the [[Australian Plague Locust Commission]].<ref name="Role">{{cite web |url=http://www.daff.gov.au/animal-plant-health/locusts/role |title=Role of the Australian Plague Locust Commission |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=14 June 2011 |website=Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715013827/http://daff.gov.au/animal-plant-health/locusts/role |archive-date=15 July 2014 }}</ref> It has been very successful in dealing with developing outbreaks, but has the great advantage of having a defined area to monitor and defend without locust invasions from elsewhere.<ref name=Krall>{{cite book |author1=Krall, S.|author2=Peveling, R.|author3=Diallo, B.D. |title=New Strategies in Locust Control |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6ndBQiTiRAC |year=1997 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-7643-5442-8 |pages=4–6}}</ref> In Central and Southern Africa, the service is provided by the International Locust Control Organization for Central and Southern Africa.<ref name=FAOTanzania>{{cite web|title=Red Locust disaster in Eastern Africa prevented|url=http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/21084/icode/|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization|access-date=1 April 2015|date=24 June 2009|archive-date=22 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322192624/https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/21084/icode/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In West and Northwest Africa, the service is co-ordinated by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]]'s Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region, and executed by locust control agencies belonging to each country concerned.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries take responsibility for regional desert locust control|url=http://www.fao.org/in-action/countries-take-responsibility-for-regional-desert-locust-control/en/|publisher=FAO|access-date=2 April 2015|date=2015}}</ref> The FAO monitors the situation in the Caucasus and Central Asia, where over 25 million hectares of cultivated land are under threat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts-CCA/en/1010/ |title=Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia |work=Locust Watch |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> In February 2020, in an effort to end massive locust outbreaks, India decided to use drones and special equipment to monitor locusts and spray insecticides.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-locusts-idUSKBN20D1X9 |title=India buys drones, specialist equipment to avert new locust attack |date=2020-02-19 |work=Reuters |access-date=2020-02-20 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Control ===

Historically, people could do little to protect their crops from locusts, although eating the insects may have been some compensation. By the early 20th century, efforts were made to disrupt the development of the insects by cultivating the soil where eggs were laid, collecting hoppers with catching machines, killing them with flamethrowers, trapping them in ditches, and crushing them with rollers and other mechanical methods.<ref name=Krall453/> By the 1950s, the [[organochloride]] [[dieldrin]] was found to be an extremely effective insecticide, but it was later banned in most countries because of its [[Persistent organic pollutant|persistence in the environment]] and its [[bioaccumulation|accumulation]] in the [[food chain]].<ref name=Krall453/>

In years when locust control is needed, the hoppers are targeted early by applying water-based contact [[pesticide]]s from tractor-based sprayers. This is effective but slow and labour-intensive; a preferable method is spraying concentrated insecticide from aircraft over the insects or vegetation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts-CCA/en/1013/ |title=Control |work=Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> The use of ultralow-volume spraying of contact pesticides from aircraft in overlapping swathes is effective against nomadic bands and can be used to treat large areas of land swiftly.<ref name=Krall/> Other modern technologies for planning locust control include [[Global Positioning System|GPS]], [[Geographic information system|GIS tools]], and [[satellite imagery]] with rapid computer data management and analysis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ceccato|first1=Pietro |title=Operational Early Warning System Using Spot-Vegetation And Terra-Modis To Predict Desert Locust Outbreaks |url=http://iri.columbia.edu/~pceccato/Public-Desert-Locust/Ceccato_full.pdf |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]]|access-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510014559/http://iri.columbia.edu/~pceccato/Public-Desert-Locust/Ceccato_full.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Latchininsky |first1=Alexandre V. |last2=Sivanpillai |first2=Ramesh |title=Locust Habitat Monitoring And Risk Assessment Using Remote Sensing And GIS Technologies |url=http://www.uwyo.edu/esm/faculty-and-staff/latchininsky/documents/2010-latchininsky-sivanpillai-springer.pdf |publisher=University of Wyoming |date=2010 |access-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230005049/http://www.uwyo.edu/esm/faculty-and-staff/latchininsky/documents/2010-latchininsky-sivanpillai-springer.pdf |archive-date=30 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A [[biological pesticide]] to control locusts was tested across Africa by a multinational team in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lomer, C.J. |author2=Bateman, R.P. |author3=Johnson, D.L. |author4=Langewald, J. |author5=Thomas, M. |year=2001 |title=Biological Control of Locusts and Grasshoppers |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |volume=46 |pages=667–702 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.46.1.667 |pmid=11112183 |s2cid=7267727 |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd09/2d6bcac45d4337866ce41318fcf79505ac79.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108063235/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd09/2d6bcac45d4337866ce41318fcf79505ac79.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-11-08 }}</ref> Dried fungal spores of a ''[[Metarhizium acridum]]'' sprayed in breeding areas pierce the locust exoskeleton on germination and invade the body cavity, causing death.<ref name="Bateman ''et al.'' (1993)">{{cite journal |last1=Bateman |first1=R. P. |last2=Carey |first2=M. |last3=Moore |first3=D. |last4=Prior |first4=C. |title=The enhanced infectivity of Metarhizium flavoviride in oil formulations to desert locusts at low humidities |journal=Annals of Applied Biology |volume=122 |issue=1 |date=1993 |issn=0003-4746 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7348.1993.tb04022.x |pages=145–152}}</ref> The fungus is passed from insect to insect and persists in the area, making repeated treatments unnecessary.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Thomas M.B., Gbongboui C., Lomer C.J. |date=1996 |title=Between-season survival of the grasshopper pathogen ''Metarhizium flavoviride'' in the Sahel |journal=Biocontrol Science and Technology |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=569–573 |doi=10.1080/09583159631208 |bibcode=1996BioST...6..569T }}</ref> This approach to locust control was used in Tanzania in 2009 to treat around 10,000 hectares in the Iku-Katavi National Park infested with adult locusts. The outbreak was contained without harm to the local [[elephant]]s, [[hippopotamus]]es, and [[giraffe]]s.<ref name=FAOTanzania/>

<gallery mode=packed heights=160>
File:Flaming Locusts in 1915.jpg|Preparing to flame [[1915 Palestine locust infestation|locusts in Palestine]], 1915
File:Cessna spraying red locusts in Iku Katavi NP.jpg|[[Cessna]] of the International Red Locust Control Organization spraying [[red locust]]s in Iku Katavi National Park, Tanzania, 2009
File:CSIRO ScienceImage 1367 Locusts attacked by the fungus Metarhizium.jpg|Locusts killed by the naturally occurring fungus ''[[Metarhizium]]'', an environmentally friendly means of biological control<ref>{{cite web |title=CSIRO ScienceImage 1367 Locusts attacked by the fungus Metarhizium |url=http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/1367 |publisher=CSIRO |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== As experimental models ===

The locust is large and easy to breed and rear, and is used as an experimental model in research studies. It has been used in evolutionary biology research and to test the generalizability of conclusions reached about test organisms such as the [[Drosophila|fruit fly]] (''Drosophila'') and the [[housefly]] (''Musca'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kellogg |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Shaffer |first2=H. Bradley |year=1993 |title=Model Organisms in Evolutionary Studies |journal=Systematic Biology |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=409–414 |doi=10.2307/2992481 |jstor=2992481 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Andersson |first1=Olga |last2=Hansen |first2=Steen Honoré |last3=Hellman |first3=Karin |last4=Olsen |first4=Line Rørbæk |last5=Andersson |first5=Gunnar |last6=Badolo |first6=Lassina |last7=Svenstrup |first7=Niels |last8=Nielsen |first8=Peter Aadal |title=The Grasshopper: A Novel Model for Assessing Vertebrate Brain Uptake |journal=Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics |volume=346 |issue=2 |date=2013 |issn=0022-3565 |doi=10.1124/jpet.113.205476 |pages=211–218|pmid=23671124 }}</ref> It is a suitable school laboratory animal because of its robustness and ease of breeding and handling.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Scott |first=Jon |title=The locust jump: an integrated laboratory investigation |journal=Advances in Physiology Education |date=March 2005 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=21–26 |doi=10.1152/advan.00037.2004 |quote=The relative size and robustness of the locust make it simple to handle and ideal for such investigations. |pmid=15718379 |s2cid=27101536 |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6ba9/b988f2edb5729c81cf3ba2bce009b444a24e.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226094312/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6ba9/b988f2edb5729c81cf3ba2bce009b444a24e.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-02-26 }}</ref>

At [[Tel Aviv University]], scientists have been using the antennae's acute sensitivity of [[Sense of smell]] to detect different odors in various technologies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israeli scientists develop sniffing robot with locust antennae |website=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/israeli-scientists-develop-sniffing-robot-with-locust-antennae-2023-02-06/ |access-date=2024-02-19}}</ref>

=== As food ===

{{See also|Kosher locust}}

[[File:Skewered locusts.jpg|thumb|upright|Skewered locusts in [[Beijing]], China]]

Locusts have been used [[insects as food|as food]] throughout history. They are considered meat. Several cultures throughout the world [[entomophagy|consume insects]], and locusts are considered a delicacy in many African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm |title=Edible Insects |last=Fromme |first=Alison |journal=[[Smithsonian Zoogoer]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |year=2005 |volume=34 |issue=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111041211/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm|archive-date=11 November 2005 |access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref>

They can be cooked in many ways, but are often fried, smoked, or dried.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livestrong.com/article/549444-the-nutritional-value-of-locusts/ |title=The Nutritional Value of Locusts |author=Dubois, Sirah |date=24 October 2011 |publisher=Livestrong.com |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref>
The [[Bible]] records that [[John the Baptist]] ate locusts and wild honey ({{langx|el|ἀκρίδες καὶ μέλι ἄγριον|akrídes kaì méli ágrion}}) while living in the wilderness.<ref>Gospel of Mark Mark 1:6; Gospel of Matthew 3:4</ref> Attempts have been made to explain the text to mean [[Asceticism|ascetic]] [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] food such as [[carob|carob beans]], but the plain meaning of the Greek ''akrides'' is locust.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brock |first=Sebastian |title=St. John the Baptist's diet – according to some early Eastern Christian sources |url=https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/3763/John-the-Baptists-Diet.pdf.download |publisher=St John's College, Oxford |access-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102311/http://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/3763/John-the-Baptists-Diet.pdf.download |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelhoffer |first1=James A. |title=Did John the Baptist eat like a former Essene? Locust-eating in the ancient Near East and at Qumran |journal=Dead Sea Discoveries |year=2004 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=293–314 |quote=There is no reason, however, to question the plausibility of Mark 1:6c, that John regularly ate these foods while in the wilderness. |doi=10.1163/1568517042643756 |jstor=4193332|url=http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:385556/FULLTEXT02 }}</ref>

The [[Torah]] prohibits the use of most insects as food, but it permits consuming certain types of locust; specifically, those that are red, yellow, or spotted grey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/19/Q1/ |title=Are locusts really Kosher?! « Ask The Rabbi « Ohr Somayach |publisher=Ohr.edu |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=hebblethwaite>{{cite news |title=Eating locusts: The crunchy, kosher snack taking Israel by swarm |author=Hebblethwaite, Cordelia |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21847517 |newspaper=BBC News: Magazine |date=21 March 2013}}</ref> [[fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]] deems eating locusts to be [[halal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shariahprogram.ca/eat-halal-foods/fiqh-halal-haraam-animals.shtml |title=The Fiqh of Halal and Haram Animals |publisher=Shariahprogram.ca |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101138/http://www.shariahprogram.ca/eat-halal-foods/fiqh-halal-haraam-animals.shtml |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=hebblethwaite/> The Prophet [[Muhammad]] was reported to have eaten locusts during a military raid with his companions.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bukhari |at=Volume 7, Book 67 |chapter=Hunting, Slaughtering |url=http://i-cias.com/textarchive/bukhari/067.htm |access-date=8 November 2016 |quote=403: Narrated Ibn Abi Aufa: We participated with the Prophet in six or seven Ghazawat, and we used to eat locusts with him. |archive-date=3 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603234224/http://i-cias.com/textarchive/bukhari/067.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Locusts are eaten in the [[Arabian Peninsula]], including Saudi Arabia.<ref name="al-jazirah.com">{{cite web |title=من المدخرات الغذائية في الماضي "الجراد" |url=http://www.al-jazirah.com/2001/20011202/wo1.htm|website=www.al-jazirah.com |publisher=Al-Jazirah Newspaper |access-date=8 November 2016 |date=2 December 2001}}</ref> In 2014, consumption of locusts spiked around [[Ramadan]] especially in the [[Al-Qassim Region]], since many Saudis believe they are healthy to eat, but the Saudi Ministry of Health warned that pesticides made them unsafe.<ref>{{cite web |title=سوق الجراد في بريدة يشهد تداولات كبيرة والزراعة تحذرمن التسمم |url=http://www.ajel.sa/local/1466546|website=صحيفة عاجل الإلكترونية |access-date=8 November 2016 |date=11 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611183839/http://www.ajel.sa/local/1466546 |archive-date=11 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.arabnews.com/news/447002 |title=People told not to eat pesticide-laced locusts |newspaper=Arab News |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=8 January 2016}}</ref> [[Yemenis]] also consume locusts, and expressed discontent over governmental plans to use pesticides against them.<ref>{{cite web |author1=أحلام الهمداني |title=اليمن تكافح الجراد بـ400 مليون واليمنيون مستاءون من (قطع الأرزاق) |url=http://www.nabanews.net/news/7921 |website=www.nabanews.net|publisher=نبأ نيوز |access-date=8 November 2016 |date=5 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601093524/http://www.nabanews.net/news/7921 |archive-date=1 June 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ʻAbd al-Salâm Shabînî described a locust recipe from Morocco.<ref name="Shabeeny1820">{{cite book |author=El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny |title=An account of Timbuctoo and Housa: Territories in the interior of Africa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LYNOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA222 |year=1820 |pages=222–|isbn=9781613106907 }}</ref> 19th century European travellers observed Arabs in Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco selling, cooking, and eating locusts.<ref name="Robinson1835">{{cite book |author=Robinson, Edward |title=A Dictionary of the Holy Bible, for the Use of Schools and Young Persons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJE4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA192 |year=1835 |publisher=Crocker and Brewster |pages=192ff}}</ref> They reported that in Egypt and Palestine locusts were consumed, and that in Palestine, around the River Jordan, in Egypt, in Arabia, and in Morocco that Arabs ate locusts, while Syrian peasants did not eat locusts.<ref name="Calmet1832">{{cite book |author=Augustin Calmet |title=Dictionary of the Holy Bible by Charles Taylor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5pBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA605 |year=1832 |publisher=Holdsworth and Ball |pages=604–605}}</ref>

In the Haouran region, [[Fellah]]s who were in poverty and suffered from famine ate locusts after removing the guts and head, while locusts were swallowed whole by Bedouins.<ref name="Calmet1832 1">{{cite book |author=Calmet, Augustin |title=Dictionary of the Holy Bible |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1ga4m9vIhYC&pg=PA635 |year=1832 |publisher=Crocker and Brewster |pages=635ff|isbn=9781404787964 }}</ref> Syrians, Copts, Greeks, Armenians, and other Christians and Arabs themselves reported that in Arabia locusts were eaten frequently and one Arab described to a European traveler the different types of locusts which were favored as food by Arabs.<ref>{{cite book |author=Burder, Samuel|author-link=Samuel Burder |title=Oriental Literature, Applied to the Illustration of the Sacred Scriptures – especially with reference to antiquties, traditions, and manners (etc.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJhgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA213 |year=1822 |publisher=Longman, Hurst |page=213}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=... Description of Arabia made from Personal Observations and Information Collected on the Spot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYFDAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA57 |year=1889 |pages=57ff |last=Niebuhr |first=Carsten}}</ref> Persians use the [[Anti-Arabism in Iran|Anti-Arab]] racial slur ''Arabe malakh-khor'' ({{langx|fa|عرب ملخ خور}}, literally "locust eater Arab") against Arabs.<ref name="Rahimieh2015">{{cite book |author=Rahimieh, Nasrin |title=Iranian Culture: Representation and identity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JtpzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |year=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-42935-7 |pages=133ff}}</ref><ref name="economist1">{{cite magazine |date=5 May 2012 |title=Persians v. Arabs: Same old sneers. Nationalist feeling on both sides of the Gulf is as prickly as ever |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21554238 |magazine=[[The Economist]]}} {{cite web |title=article on ''highbeam.com'' |date=5 May 2012 |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-288523054.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127022449/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-288523054.html |archive-date=2018-11-27}}</ref><ref name="Majd2008">{{cite book |author=Majd, Hooman |title=The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The paradox of modern Iran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1kuSfuHovwMC&pg=PA165 |date=23 September 2008 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-385-52842-9 |pages=165ff}}</ref>

Locusts yield about five times more edible [[protein]] per unit of [[fodder]] than cattle, and produce lower levels of [[greenhouse gas]]es in the process.<ref>''[[Global Steak]] – Demain nos enfants mangeront des criquets'' (2010 French documentary).</ref> The [[feed conversion rate]] of orthopterans is 1.7&nbsp;kg/kg,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collavo |first1=A. |last2=Glew |first2=R. H. |last3=Huang |first3=Y.S. |last4=Chuang |first4=L.T. |last5=Bosse |first5=R. |last6=Paoletti |first6=M.G. |editor-last=Paoletti |editor-first=M.G. |title=Ecological implications of mini-livestock: Potential of insects, rodents, frogs, and snails |publisher=Science Publishers |year=2005 |location=New Hampshire |pages=519–544 |chapter=House cricket small-scale farming}}</ref> while for beef it is typically about 10&nbsp;kg/kg.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smil |first=V. |date=2002 |title=Worldwide transformation of diets, burdens of meat production and opportunities for novel food proteins |journal=Enzyme and Microbial Technology |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=305–311 |doi=10.1016/s0141-0229(01)00504-x}}</ref> The protein content in fresh weight is between 13 and 28&nbsp;g / 100&nbsp;g for adult locust, 14–18&nbsp;g / 100&nbsp;g for larvae, as compared to 19–26&nbsp;g / 100&nbsp;g for beef.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/infoods/infoods/tables-and-databases/en/ |title=Composition database for Biodiversity |edition=Version&nbsp;2, BioFoodComp2 |publisher=FAO |date=10 January 2013 |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nutritional value of insects for human consumption |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e06.pdf |publisher=FAO |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-date=4 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204211732/http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e06.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The calculated [[protein efficiency ratio]] is low, with 1.69 for locust protein compared to 2.5 for standard casein.<ref name=AT/> A serving of 100&nbsp;g of desert locust provides 11.5&nbsp;g of fat, 53.5% of which is unsaturated, and 286&nbsp;mg of cholesterol.<ref name=AT>{{cite journal |last1=Abul-Tarboush |first1=Hamza M. |last2=Al-Kahtani |first2=Hassan A. |last3=Aldryhim |first3=Yousif N. |last4=Asif |first4=Mohammed |date=16 December 2010 |title=Desert locust (''Schistocercsa gregaria''): Proximate composition, physiochemcial characteristics of lipids, fatty acids, and cholesterol contents and nutritional value of protein |url=http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/handle/123456789/9701 |format=Article |journal=College of Foods and Agricultural Science |publisher=King Saud University |access-date=21 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122001451/http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/handle/123456789/9701 |archive-date=22 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among the fatty acids, [[palmitoleic acid|palmitoleic]], [[oleic acid|oleic]], and [[linolenic acid|linolenic]] acids were found to be the most abundant. Varying amounts of potassium, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc were present.<ref name=AT/>