Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)

Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)
Moroccan locust
Distribution
Algeria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Russian Federation, Georgia, Armenia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Italy
Taxonomy
Family:	Acrididae
Subfamily:	Gomphocerinae
Genus:	Dociostaurus
Additional resources
Full taxonomy from OSF

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The Moroccan Locust was potentially the species whose spectacular plagues were described in the Bible. In modern times, crop damage from these insects has been reported in more than 25 countries although it is generally decreasing, likely because croplands are replacing locust habitat.

Nomenclature

Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg, 1815). For full nomenclature, see this taxon's page on Orthoptera Species File.

• FAO information on the Moroccan locust

Identification

Phase	Stage	Color	Wings	Legs
Gregarious	nymph
Gregarious	immature adult
Gregarious	mature adult
Solitarious	nymph
Solitarious	immature adult
Solitarious	adult

Identification resources

Title	Link	Descriptive keywords	Language	Geographic purview	Author	Year
Moroccan locust info poster		Biology, Ecology, Monitoring, Species identification, Behavior, Population dynamics	Azerbaijani,Russian	Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2021
Orthoptera Species File	View URL	Species identification, Biology	English	Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania	Orthoptera Species File Online

Distribution

The Moroccan locust is found from the Atlantic islands (Canaries, Madeira) in the west to Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the east. The northern limits of its distribution area are reached in Hungary and Rumania.

In Africa, the species occurs in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, with latitude 28N as the southern edge of its distribution area.

In west and central Europe, it is found in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Kosovo, Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova and south-west Ukraine as well as in Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia).

In the Middle East and Minor Asia, it is found in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Moroccan Locust is present in all Central Asian countries, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the latter hosting the extreme north-eastern point of its distribution area (60 km E of Almaty).

The Moroccan Locust is not found north to 49N

For more information and distribution records see [GBIF]

Biology

Life cycle parameters

Phase	Developmental time
Eggs
Hopper
Adult
Laying-fledging
Adult maturation
Total

Pest status

Recent outbreaks

Italy 2019 -2020

Outbreak media coverage

Title	Link	Descriptive keywords	Language	Geographic purview	Author	Year
Afghan farmers despair as locusts plague precious crops	View URL	Media article, Locust outbreaks	English	Afghanistan	France 24	2023
Afghan northwest hit by plague of locusts	View URL	Mechanical control, Locust outbreaks, Media article	English	Afghanistan	Reuters	2008
Afghanistan locust outbreak	View URL	Emergency response, Locust outbreaks, Video, Media article	Arabic,English	Afghanistan		2023
FAO warns of potentially devastating Moroccan Locust outbreak in Afghanistan’s wheat basket	View URL	Advisory note, Press release, Mechanical control	English	Afghanistan		2023
Israeli locust expert flies to Sardinia to help fight outbreak	View URL		English	Italy	The Times of Israel	2022
Locust invasion hits crops in Takhar	View URL	Video	Arabic	Afghanistan		2023
Locust timebomb looms in Afghanistan after insects lay billions of eggs in cropland	View URL	Locust outbreaks	English	Afghanistan	The Telegraph	2023
Locusts destroy Afghanistan crops amid severe food crisis	View URL		English	Afghanistan	Aljazeera	2023
Locusts infested about 2,000 hectares of farm land in Aksy	View URL		English	Kyrgyzstan	AKIpress News Agency	2022
Locusts Invade Northern Afghan Provinces	View URL	Locust outbreaks	English	Afghanistan	TOLO News	2023
Sardinia hit by worst locust invasion for 70 years	View URL		English	Italy	Reuters	2019
Sardinian farmers suffer worst locust invasion in over 30 years	View URL		English	Italy	Reuters	2022

2020
Sardinian farmers suffer worst locust invasion in over 30 years July 13, 2022
Israeli locust expert flies to Sardinia to help fight outbreak July 4, 2022
Locusts infested about 2,000 hectares of farm land in Aksy May 10, 2022
Sardinia hit by worst locust invasion for 70 years June 11, 2019

Associated organizations

Organization	Acronym	Non english name	Website	Type	Focus	Focus keywords	Geographic purview
FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia	CCA		View URL	Intergovernmental Organization	Education, Information Hub, Governance	Training, Regional Cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Policy, Forecasting	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia	CCA		View URL	Intergovernmental Organization	Education, Information Hub, Governance	Training, Regional Cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Policy, Forecasting	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	CCA		View URL	Intergovernmental Organization	Education, Information Hub, Governance	Training, Regional Cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Policy, Forecasting	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	CCA		View URL	Intergovernmental Organization	Education, Information Hub, Governance	Training, Regional Cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Policy, Forecasting	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Laore Sardegna				Government	Management	Control	Italy

Resources

Title	Link	Descriptive keywords	Language	Geographic purview	Author	Year
CABI Green Muscle education videos	View URL	Video, Biological control, Biopesticide, Metarhizium acridum, Storage, Dosage, Application, PPE and cleaning	Arabic,French,Russian,English	Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania		2021
Calendars 2023 on locust control safety measures		Calendar, Management	Azerbaijani,Armenian,Georgian	Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia (country)	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2023
DMA Monograph	View URL	Morphology, Distribution, Ecology, Population dynamics, Management	Russian	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Algeria, Russian Federation, Georgia (country), Afghanistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Italy	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2023
FAO Locust Watch bulletin for Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	View URL	Forecasting, Information hub, Emergency alerts	English	Afghanistan, Georgia (country), Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia
Locust-Tec	View URL	Space, aeronautics, Earth observation, Climate Change, Agriculture	English	Central Asia	German Aerospace Center, Ministry of Agriculture Kazakhstan	2023
Mitigating the locust spread in Tajikistan and neighbouring countries through Anticipatory Action	View URL	Locust outbreaks	English	Tajikistan		2023
Morocco locust comprehensive overview	View URL	Morphology, Distribution, Ecology, Population dynamics, Management	Russian	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Algeria, Russian Federation, Georgia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Italy	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2023
Practical Guidelines on Pesticide Risk Reduction for Locust Control in CCA	View URL	Pesticides, Pesticide management, Management	English	Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2019
Report of the GIS Workshop 2022 CCA	View URL	Report, Workshop, Forecasting, Remote sensing, Data analysis, Early warning, Monitoring, Management	English	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2021
Report Technical Workshop 2021 CCA	View URL	Report, Workshop, Monitoring, Management	English	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan	FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	2021
Sustainable use and conservation of microbial and invertebrate biological control agents and microbial biostimulants	View URL	Management, Biological control, Biopesticide	English	Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania		2023