Migratory locust: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the migratory locust lives – recorded in 22 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Locusta migratoria
Group	Grasshoppers, bugs & other insects
Found in	22 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania
Class	Insect
Order	Orthoptera
Family	Acrididae

Where does the migratory locust live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the migratory locust in 22 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. In Albania, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Portugal it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the migratory locust?

The migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is an insect in the order Orthoptera and the family Acrididae, genus Locusta. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the migratory locust

The migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is the most widespread locust species, and the only species in the genus Locusta. It occurs throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Because of the vast geographic area it occupies, which comprises many different ecological zones, numerous subspecies have been described. However, not all experts agree on the validity of some of these subspecies. While it reaches plague proportions in drier areas, it is solitary in northern Australia savannas.

Many other species of grasshopper with gregarious and possibly migratory behaviour are referred to as 'locusts' in the vernacular, including the widely distributed desert locust.

At 6.5 Gbp, the migratory locust possesses one of the largest known insect genomes.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Migratory locust (revision 1369618186), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1059580 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).