What Happened to the Locusts?

109 points25 comments4 days ago
password4321

A nice weekend read that doesn't smell like AI but if you're short on time or interest:

Though the locusts had a huge migratory range stretching all the way to the eastern seaboard, its reproductive range was only a handful of river valleys in Wyoming and Montana. Once plowed, irrigated and trampled by livestock the species had nowhere left to lay eggs.

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daoboy

My earliest introduction to locusts was as a biblical plague. These Sunday school lessons did not include pictures. I always imagined some twisted diminutive demonic swarm of insects, and was disappointed to finally discover they were just grasshoppers.

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dnnddidiej

Trigger warning: animated insect crawls on screen.

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card_zero

Is it really true about the unpalatable chickens? Every mention of "caloptine" that I can find is from 1878, and derives from the annual Report of the United States entomological commission, which expressed hope of making commercial locust products, mainly formic acid. That entomological comission is the cited Charles Riley. Nobody ever seems to mention the substance again.

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alserio

Nice Easter egg

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jeremytarpley

Great article. I'm also impressed by the design of the webpage itself. Love the typography and clever UI.

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swiftcoder

> All of these triggers cause a release of serotonin. This serotonin release triggers the physical transformation

Locusts are just grasshoppers on prozac?

archermarks

Really interesting article! I knew about the phase polyphenism but the forced cannibalistic march theory was new to me.