Desert Locust vs Armored Ground Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Desert Locust Armored Ground Cricket
Scientific Name Schistocerca gregaria Acanthoplus discoidalis
Order Orthoptera Orthoptera
Family Acrididae Tettigoniidae
Size 45-60 mm 40-50mm
Habitat Farmland Deserts & Drylands
Diet Herbivores Carrion Feeders
Regions Africa, Asia Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Desert Locust

Forms enormous swarms of billions that devastate crops across Africa and Asia. A single swarm can cover 1,200 square km and eat as much food as 35,000 people daily.

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Did You Know?

A large locust swarm can contain 80 million individuals per square kilometer and travel 150 km per day, consuming their own body weight in food daily.

Armored Ground Cricket

A large heavily armored katydid with sharp spines on its thorax and legs. It is flightless and moves in large migratory bands. When threatened, it can squirt hemolymph from its joints.

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Did You Know?

Individuals in marching bands become cannibalistic, and those that stop moving are eaten by those behind them.