Locust swarms arrive in India for summer breeding; Delhi, UP put on alert

New Delhi: As swarms of locusts make their way to India for the breeding season in summer, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have been put on high alert.

According to a Jodhpur-based organisation that warns about locust attacks, the female lay eggs two days after mating.  Only the yellow coloured locusts lay eggs, not the pink coloured ones.

The eggs are laid 6 inches deep inside the ground, it digs a hole and there is white powder at the enterance of the hole. After 12 days, some clefts emerge from the eggs, but they become adults within 30 days.

The locusts fly throughout the day and in the evening they sit on trees. Overnight they stay there and then start flying as the morning sun rises. Wherever they their swarm goes the entire crop is wiped out. To kill them, a pesticide called Malathian is sprayed.

Accordin to experts, there xis likely to be extensive crop losses if authorities fail to curb the fast-spreading swarms by June when monsoon rains spur rice, cane, corn, cotton, and soybean sowing.

Locusts have entered India after traveling from Africa through Yemen, Iran and Pakistan.

Currently, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra are under locust attack