Massive Locust Swarm Engulfs Dagestan, Threatening Crops and Roads
Millions of locusts have descended on Dagestan's Kizlyar district, darkening the sky and endangering agriculture. Authorities are using aircraft and ground equipment, though protected areas complicate the response.
Dagestan's Kizlyar district in southern Russia is facing a massive locust infestation. Videos posted on social media show insects filling the air and surrounding vehicles, sharply reducing visibility and making driving hazardous. Witnesses have compared the scene to one of the biblical plagues of Egypt, while others simply described it as 'biblical.'
The swarm is moving rapidly across farmland and destroying vegetation, putting harvests and pastures at risk. Locusts usually live solitary lives, but under favorable breeding conditions their numbers explode. Once the insects reach high densities, their behavior changes and they band together into enormous, highly mobile swarms. These swarms can travel long distances with the wind in a single day, stripping leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, stalks and even tree bark in a short time.
Locusts do not typically attack humans or animals, and they are not known to carry diseases dangerous to people. Still, the sheer number of insects can create dangerous conditions on roads and in populated areas.
Authorities in Dagestan have deployed aircraft and ground machinery to spray insecticides. However, control efforts are complicated by the fact that some locusts have bred inside protected natural areas, where chemical use is banned. Treatment can only begin once the swarms leave these reserves and move onto agricultural land, by which point crops already lie directly in their path.
The first warning signs appeared in May, when mass hatching of locusts was observed in northern Dagestan. Farmers were urged to use all available resources to limit the spread, but despite the early warnings, the swarm has now reached enormous proportions.
