Community Magazine April 2019

98 Community Magazine Exploring the Mysteries of the Animal Kingdom Torah The locust is mentioned in the Torah by a variety of names, with arbeh being the most common one. The word arbeh is derived from the root ravah , which means “to increase and multiply.” Some trace it to the root arav , which means “to attack and devastate.” The locust possesses both of these characteristics. During its gregarious phase, the locust multiplies at an alarming rate, and it is a potential destroyer of crops; it devours plant growth with an insatiable appetite. The locust’s destructive nature is described in various places throughout Tanach. For example, when the Midyanim attacked Bnei Yisrael in the days of Gideon, destroying the produce of the earth and Make Way! A desert locust swarm consists of up to eighty million locusts in less than half a square mile. These swarms can be 460 square miles in size! in small areas where there is vegetation. This crowding triggers a dramatic and rapid change in the locusts’ behavior. They become very mobile and actively seek the company of other locusts. They also change physically, becoming darker in color, and stronger, and they begin multiplying rapidly. Their increased strength enables them to fly for prolonged flights in swarms. In their swarms, locusts move in a single direction, making stopovers on any green area they notice. This causes extensive damage to crops. Locusts are known to cover long distances in short time periods, leaving behind a trail of damage. Grasshoppers are primarily solitary creatures throughout their lives and can stay in the same habitat for long periods of time. Grasshoppers never or rarely swarm. Locusts, on the other hand, are actually types of grasshoppers that have entered into a migratory phase (where they migrate from one location to another, in search of food) and are able to swarm. These locusts first undergo a solitary phase , in which they act like grasshoppers and keep to themselves. Then they enter a gregarious phase , in which they become very social, and mass together in large groups. Locusts develop their gregarious characteristics in certain environmental conditions. Drought drives locusts to crowd What Is the Difference between Grasshoppers and Locusts? Torah