The Curse of the rains

The Curse of the rains is the name for the Desert Locust
After the long awaited heavy rainfall, the Locust starts to rapidly reproduce in millions and then swarm, devastating all agriculture in the region.

Normally, the Desert Locust lives alone.
It has a three stage Lifecycle lasting 3-5 months: Egg, Hopper, Adult.
However, after heavy rainfall, the rapid growth of vegetation encourages the female Locust to lay its eggs, and the young Hoppers or Nymphs, hatch and feed together.
This mass congregating triggers the change from solitary behaviour to swarming. As the Nymphs become adults, they change colour from the usual brown to become red or yellow.

Adult Locusts that swarm can fly hundreds of miles when carried by the wind.
They eat during the day and fly at night.
Locust Swarms regularly cross the Red Sea from Africa to Arabia.
They can travel up to 200 miles (320km) per night and fly up to an altitude of 6,000 feet (1800m) but cannot go over mountain ranges.
One swarm can cover 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometres) and will contain millions of Locusts.
They eat entire crops and vegetation in a whole area, destroying food supplies and bringing Famine.
Swarms from Ethiopia and Somalia cross the Red Sea and northwestern Indian Ocean using the Monsoon and arrive in the Arabian Peninsular, Iran, Pakistan and northwestern India
All crops, vegetables, trees and plants are ravaged.

Swarms of Locusts formed the eighth Plague of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, recorded in the Book of Exodus in The Bible.

Egypt