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Migratory Locust
Locusta migratoria
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.
From the article Migratory locust on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
At the table
The migratory locust is an edible insect. In Europe, the migratory locust is officially approved for the use in food in Switzerland (since May 2017). On 2 July 2021, the European Food Safety Agency published a scientific opinion stating that the consumption of migratory locust in frozen, dried or ground state is safe for humans. On 12 November 2021, the EU member states gave their green light for the EU Commission to authorize the placing on the market of migratory locust as a food. This is one of the final steps in the novel food authorization procedure. As a next step, the Commission will now adopt a legal act.
Wikipedia: “As food”
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Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Locusta migratoria in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 201627.