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LOCUST PLAGUE

Guizhou Metropolitan Newspaper: locust swarms struck the second largest grassland of China. Wrap-up from our press: The second largest grassland of China, Xilinguole grassland in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was stricken by locust swarms in a large area. Xilinguole grassland at Xilinguole League in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located to the west of Beijing, with the closest area about 300 kilometers away from Beijing. Since the beginning of this summer, because of the persistent dry and rainless condition, this grassland has suffered an extraordinary drought succeeded by a large area locust plague seldom seen in history. The disaster areas were scattered all over the 13 Flags, Counties, Cities and Districts of the League. It is known that over 4.7 million livestock have been stricken. Among these, nearly 10 percent had to be grazed elsewhere. Lots of grasslands also have nothing to harvest.

(Compiled and translated based on http://www.minghui.cc/gb/0001/Aug/15/disaster_815.html)

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China Encounters Disaster of Locust

(Duowei News, July 28) The residents of Yongle Community in Shijingshan, Beijing were almost disturbed to death by a kind of locust during these past few days. Whenever street lamps were lit , these tiny, winged creatures would swarm in from all directions, gathering at the corners of buildings, on walls, beneath street lamps and on lawns, jumping and flying around chaotically.

According to the report from "Beijing Daily", these intruders belong to a species of locusts. They are similar in kin to the "migratory locust", in that they also feed on grass, trees, and crops. An average density of just several such native locusts per square meter can be harmful to the agriculture.

Because chemicals are applied every year, for prevention, in the suburbs of Beijing, no damage has occurred. From where do these native locusts come? According to the analysis of experts, it is quite possible that they are "local products" of the environment. They are weak in their migratory nature and they are not capable of flying into Beijing from elsewhere. The dry weather of these few years has caused the waste grassland and river shore in the suburbs of Beijing to expand, increasing the hatch rate of the native locusts' eggs.