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| Photo Credit: AP. |
The giant Mormon cricket swarms often linked to biblical times because of its fierce plant ravaging capability is sparking fears of massive crop damage in Oregon if it is not controlled, The Associated Press reports.
The giant
insects are not new to Oregon. They are native to western North America and
their name is traceable to the 1800s, when they reportedly ruined the fields of
Mormon settlers in Utah and were named Mormon insect, according to The
Associated Press.
In 2021 the
Oregon Legislature allocated $5 million to deal with the problem and set up a
Mormon cricket and grasshopper “suppression” program in a bid to control the
rapidly growing insect population, The Associated Press reported. The lawmakers
also voted additional $1.2 million for the program which was approved last
month, the website added.
Both the
state and federal authorities are putting in place measures to arrest the
spiraling insect population especially Mormon crickets and grasshoppers that continue
to swarm from Montana to Nevada. The measure includes the aerial spraying of
pesticides to target the insects across large swaths of land, according to The
Associated Press.
In 2017,
Arlington had its largest Mormon cricket outbreak since the 1940s. The outbreak
damaged significant grain farmlands.
Rancher Skye
Krebs said the outbreaks have been “truly biblical.”
Rancher Skye
Krebs said the outbreak have been “truly biblical,” according to The Associated
Press.
“On the
highways, once you get them killed, then the rest of them come,” he explained.
Mormon crickets are cannibalistic and will feast on each other, dead or alive,
if not satiated with protein.
The new
Oregon initiative helps farmers and ranchers to request Oregon Department of Agriculture
(ODA) to survey their land. If ODA fins more than three Mormon crickets or
eight grasshoppers per square yard, it will recommend chemical treatment. In
May 201 Mormon crickets were discovered per square yard after the hatch, The
Associated Press reported.