Hello I have compiled a short list of ways to control Locusts and have pictures associated with some of the measures
HOW TO CONTROL LOCUSTS (Chemical Free Options):
Locusts have 5 moulting phases before they can fly because they need to eat a lot to gain fat to get the strength to fly. During these 5 stages when they are still only able to hop, you can herd them into holes or boxes to trap them by using barriers like wood planks or tarps. The photos here are of wooden planks. They will follow one another as they move in “Bands” while young before forming a “Strand” and joining the main “Swarm”. Eat them, burn them, drown them in a tub and feed them to chickens…there are several options of what you can do with locusts not killed with poison.
Locusts lay their eggs in the ground in undisturbed field areas. Take turns to watch where they lay their eggs and mark the areas (sticks work well). Later come in a larger group or by yourself and hoe up the eggs to dry in the sun–this will kill about 80% of the eggs. If you have chickens release them into the field after hoeing to get almost 100% of the eggs
If you have chickens, you can use the captured locusts as good protein food.
If you like crunchy snacks, you are in luck because locusts are safe to eat! Try frying them in spices and salt, or grinding them to make a flour and make pakora. First remove the wings and small parts of the lower leg because those parts are too hard to eat.
Bang on pots and pans to send the Adults flying into the air. Birds like Kite (Cheel), Crow, Jureli, Storks, Egrets, Herons and House Sparrows can eat A LOT of locusts.
Straw piles can be used at the edges of fields to trap sleepy locusts at night. Once the sun is setting they will find a place to sleep and will not move from that place. Go out 1 hour before dark and scare them to at least the edges of the field. Before they become active slightly after sunrise, you can burn them.
Another kind of trap that has been used, but of which we could not find pictures is a bucket trap that is filled with Gur/Jaggery/Molasses water. You can place these around to try to trap the insects – as they search for the sugar source they will not be able to escape the water.
Locusts are a type of grasshopper which has 2 types of possible life phases based on how many juveniles hatch successfully and meet one another as they mature. The locusts that are in Nepal right now are from the Middle East and Northern Africa, so we want to eradicate them, but we want to avoid using poisons that can kill birds who eat the dead insects or which can kill native insects like bees and butterflies which are part of the Natural Environment. In countries where locusts are native, the goal is to manage them in a way that promotes their solitary lifestyle and not their “gregarious” swarming lifestyle by keeping their population in check.
If you do decide to spray them, then it is advised to be most effective during moulting phases 2 and 3 according to Entomologists and Pest Control Experts. It is considered a waste of pesticide as well as an environmental hazard to humans to spray the air of a swarm.
Locust swarms are made up of Strands and all the locusts in each strand face the same direction, although strands may fly in separate directions. Because of this, it is hard to watch where the locust swarm is headed from a close distance. The majority of the swarm will move at about 40% windspeed in the direction of the wind in about a 30 degree lateral dispersal (like a triangle wedge shape). Some locusts fly as fast as 100% wind speed too.
This information is from various sources including research papers and articles. Photos are taken many times from the US Library of Congress and also from newspaper articles and web sites like the Victoria Agriculture Association in Australia. I did a lot of reading so I have verified each method with photos or multiple articles stating similar facts.
Trying to attach photos now
