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Locusts

MiLK_MaN

MiLK_MaN

Question: Do Locusts like chilli plants?

I just drove through some big ass plagues that are about 2 hours west of Melbourne. As we get quite a few northerly winds, they are likely to be pushed down to Melbourne.

Anything I can do other than cover all the plants with netting? I've seen the odd one or two flying around, but definitely not the plague proportions that I saw today, so not sure if I actually have anything to worry about or not.
 
Locusts when in plague proportions eat anything green. We have had them eat peoples green clothes and green shadeclothetc . The locals spray red or brown dye onto the bowling greens during plagues. The only alternative is inside a white covered shadehouse or inside in a hothouse. They will strip your chillies bare if they arrive big time.
 
Yup. They manhandled my kale and chard first this year, and then started in after my Corbaci peppers (strangely, they left the orange habs alone). Never touched my tomatoes. Ours were light to medium in volume this year. Nothing compared to the fuzzy black caterpillars which are satan's spawn, along with deer.
 
These plagues in Aussie are simply massive. The swarms cover hundreds of square kilometers. They move through like a giant vaccuum cleaner devouring all before the. The recent rains in the Eastern states will have put out heaps of new feed to keep the swarms moving. In dryer years the swarms stop when the feed dries off and bury their eggs ready for the next season.
 
Sandgroper said:
These plagues in Aussie are simply massive. The swarms cover hundreds of square kilometers. They move through like a giant vaccuum cleaner devouring all before the. The recent rains in the Eastern states will have put out heaps of new feed to keep the swarms moving. In dryer years the swarms stop when the feed dries off and bury their eggs ready for the next season.
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Sounds like a good time for some deep-fried grasshopper!
 
People drive around here out in the country with shadecloth cable tied over the grill of the car to stop the little buggers clogging the radiator every few kilometers.
 
Sandgroper said:
People drive around here out in the country with shadecloth cable tied over the grill of the car to stop the little buggers clogging the radiator every few kilometers.
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We have to do the same here, but for love-bugs(two bugs with their ass stuck together). They are attracted to gas fumes, so they swarm the roads, and their splattered guts will eat your paint. Time to cover the car in cooking spray!
 
your states/territories could pool together and natural predators to the locus like maybe bats, birds or preying mantis. if you used bats you would loads of guano, then what would you do with all the bats? lots of birds might be good.

or take's FCB basic idea and set up roadside generators then use flame launchers to cook them. ah, but then PETA would get involved and that wouldn't be pretty, next Iran would put out a travel ban to their citizens to avoid going to australia do to the acts of terrorism on these biblical insects.

you could pray for snow, europe would be glad to oblige, i know for a fact locus and grasshoppers just curl up and fall fast asleep in the cold.

good luck
 
Burning Colon said:
your states/territories could pool together and natural predators to the locus like maybe bats, birds or preying mantis. if you used bats you would loads of guano, then what would you do with all the bats? lots of birds might be good.

or take's FCB basic idea and set up roadside generators then use flame launchers to cook them. ah, but then PETA would get involved and that wouldn't be pretty, next Iran would put out a travel ban to their citizens to avoid going to australia do to the acts of terrorism on these biblical insects.

you could pray for snow, europe would be glad to oblige, i know for a fact locus and grasshoppers just curl up and fall fast asleep in the cold.

good luck
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Ah...the history of introduction of non-native species to Australia is rich and richer...
 
Burning Colon said:
you could pray for snow, europe would be glad to oblige, i know for a fact locus and grasshoppers just curl up and fall fast asleep in the cold.
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While we personally at our house did not get snow, there was snow in our alpine areas earlier this month. Given we are close to Antarctica, it takes a while for the southern oceans to warm up. So we can have high 100F one week early in summer, followed by a cold day where temperatures struggle to get over 60F.

Our weather is nearly always influenced by wind direction. This also impacts the direction of the locusts. Any North-Westerly that blows into Melbourne means the locusts are directed straight into our path.
 
Mount a huge net above your car and drive along slowly capturing them in the net. Once you get a few thousand tons of grasshoppers you can put them into your hot pepper dehydrator and mix with some Bhut Jolokia and make a high protein hot pepper sauce. You will put Tabasco sauce out of business.

Mmmm. Chocolate covered Locust bon bons.

Reese's Peanutbutter Cup mixes peanuts and covers it all with chocolate. You could substitute the grasshoppers for the peanuts and sell them as Australia's answer to the Reese's peanut butter cup problem.

I see this as a great opportunity for Australian entrepreneurs. Harvest them for protein for dog food. make a million.

There is nothing you can do to get rid of them. May as well surrender to the inevitable. Maybe they hit you and maybe they miss. That is the luck of the Irish.

You should never have brought them into Australia in the first place. What were you thinking? But dont worry. After they eat everything they will die of starvation after they lay their 10 trillion eggs for next year.

And one bit of advice. Stop bringing in grasshoppers, toads, rabbits, fox, cats, rats, goats etc etc etc. When are you guys going to learn.
 
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