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Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier
In 1876, the U.S. Congress declared the locust “the single greatest impediment to the settlement of the country between Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains.” Throughout the nineteenth century, swarms of locusts regularly swept across the American continent, turning noon into dusk, devastating farm communities, and bringing trains to a halt. The outbreaks subsided in the 1890s, and then, suddenly—and mysteriously—the Rocky Mountain locust vanished. A century later, entomologist Jeffrey Lockwood vowed to discover why.Locust is the story of how one insect shaped the history of the western United States. A compelling personal narrative drawing on historical accounts and modern science, this beautifully written book brings to life the cultural, economic, and political forces at work in America in the late nineteenth century, even as it solves one of the greatest extinction mysteries of our time.
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
April 9, 2008
Ever since reading the Little House books when I was a kid, I wondered what happened to those grasshoppers that destroyed everything. They were horrifying and disgusting and why did I not hear anything about them outside the books? For awhile, I wondered if they were cicadas, until I learned that cicadas don't eat anything. So when this book was recommended to me, I jumped on it.
So, turns out those locusts have been nearly extinct since the 1890s. But in Laura's time....wow. There were over a trillion locusts during the bad years. For each person on the planet, there were over a thousand locusts. In terms of mass, there were nearly as much locust on the western plains as there were bison. Locust swarms covered 900 square mile chunks of area. They ate everything. I can't even imagine this.
Really, I just wanted to learn what happened to the locusts. In a nutshell, I could have read a Wikipedia page. But then I'd have missed out on this guy's stories and all the bits of history that he wove together to create a really fascinating story. And it really was fascinating, every bit of it.
So, turns out those locusts have been nearly extinct since the 1890s. But in Laura's time....wow. There were over a trillion locusts during the bad years. For each person on the planet, there were over a thousand locusts. In terms of mass, there were nearly as much locust on the western plains as there were bison. Locust swarms covered 900 square mile chunks of area. They ate everything. I can't even imagine this.
Really, I just wanted to learn what happened to the locusts. In a nutshell, I could have read a Wikipedia page. But then I'd have missed out on this guy's stories and all the bits of history that he wove together to create a really fascinating story. And it really was fascinating, every bit of it.
March 26, 2015
Early white settlers on the high plains of the western U.S. were always bummed out when colossal swarms of locusts dropped by for lunch. The sky would darken, and the land would be filled with the roaring buzz of millions of fluttering wings. Within an hour or so, everything was covered with them, including the settlers, who frantically tried to brush off the hundreds of hungry insects that were chewing apart their clothing.
They were Rocky Mountain locusts, a North American species that lived west of the Mississippi — and the stars of Jeffrey Lockwood’s book, Locust. When swarming, these insects were a horror show. A swarm could devour 50 tons of greenery in a day. Trains couldn’t move because the tracks were too greasy. Swarms were like tornadoes, wiping out one area while leaving other neighbors in the region untouched.
In June of 1875, folks in Nebraska observed a swarm that was 1,800 miles long (2,900 km), 110 miles wide (177 km), and between a quarter and a half mile deep (0.4 to 0.8 km). It devoured 198,000 square miles (512,000 sq. km), an area almost as large as Colorado and Wyoming. The swarm took five days to pass. Lockwood estimated that it might have been 10 billion locusts — possibly the biggest assemblage of animals ever experienced by human beings.
Normally, maybe 80 percent of the time, locusts stayed in their home base, in the river valleys of the northern Rockies, a habitat that may have consisted of a mere 2,000 acres (809 ha). They ate, reproduced, and enjoyed life.
Periodic droughts would reduce the available food supply, causing locusts to crowd into pockets of surviving greenery. Dry weather eliminated the population control provided by fungal diseases. Drought also concentrated the nutritional value of vegetation. Warmer temperatures meant that locusts grew to maturity more quickly, so they spent less time in the nymph stage, when predators took a heavy toll on the helpless youngsters. The swarming process was triggered by crowding. They could either starve or see the world.
A hungry swarm of two million American settlers moved into the high plains in the 1870s, and ravaged the short grass prairie with cows and plows. They planted lots of wheat, and then discovered that locusts preferred wheat to everything else on the menu.
They exterminated the bison that were perfectly adapted to the ecosystem, and brought in cattle that were unsuited for the arid climate, did not fancy the native vegetation, and died like flies during frigid winters. They exterminated the wolves, and other wild predators, because they enjoyed owning and exploiting helpless dimwitted domesticated herbivores.
Settlers attempted to import their Western European way of life to an ecosystem where it could not possibly thrive. Instead of trying to adapt to the ecosystem, they expected the ecosystem to adapt to their exotic fantasies — a traditional recipe for failure. In their dream world, locusts were pests, wolves were pests, bison were pests — death to all pests!
The Indians perceived locusts, wolves, and bison as being sacred relatives, not pests. The Indians enjoyed a time-proven culture that was well adapted to the ecosystem. Can you guess who the Indians considered to be pests?
Long ago, in the wilderness of Judea, there was a holy roller named John. One day, he baptized a lad called Jesus. The heavens opened up, a spirit appeared, and led Jesus away to the wilderness for a life changing 40 day vision quest. The Baptist had a wild diet: “And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4)
To the Indians, locusts were not pests, they were a sacred source of nutritious food. Their tasty flesh was rich with calories and 60 percent protein. In an hour, they could forage 200 pounds (90 kg) of dried insects, storing away 273,000 calories. It was faster, easier, and safer than hunting large, strong, speedy herbivores with sharp horns that took great pleasure in trampling and disemboweling hunters.
At the Great Salt Lake, Mormons discovered that locusts couldn’t swim. Millions would drown, and then the winds would push their bodies to the shore, in piles six feet high (1.8 m) and two miles long (3.2 km). As the corpses rotted, memorable fragrances wafted on the air. While a tremendous source of excellent food rotted away, the settlers complained about the stink.
White settlers loathed the locusts. Comically, everything they tried to exterminate the swarms failed — flooding, rollers, dynamite, trawlers, poisons, flamethrowers. During the swarming phase, resistance was futile, the insects were impossible to control.
Eventually, entomologists were summoned to combat the insects with science. Several chapters shine spotlights on famous entomologists who strove to understand locusts, and render them harmless to the devastating swarms of white settlers.
As more settlers moved into the high plains, the locust numbers declined. There were fewer swarms. Attention shifted to other challenges. Eventually, entomologists realized that nobody had seen a locust in a long time. The last Rocky Mountain locust died in Manitoba in 1902. They went extinct, but folks didn’t notice for quite a while. It was unimaginable that critters that existed in such enormous numbers could completely disappear within a few decades.
A number of half-baked theories attempted to explain the spooky extinction, but Lockwood was the one who finally solved the mystery. He visited several “grasshopper glaciers” where layers of dead locusts could be observed, and found locusts that died 800 years ago. Swarming was not caused by settlers.
One day, he had an insight. Monarch butterflies are vulnerable to extinction because the forests where they spend the winter are being eliminated, and this is a bottleneck. The bottleneck for the locusts was their home base along northern river valleys — arable lands, exactly where whites preferred to settle. Irrigation, tilling, and cattle grazing hammered the locusts where they were most vulnerable, home sweet home.
Entomologists around the world work tirelessly to discover new methods for exterminating agricultural pest species, and the insects always succeed in outwitting the wizards. The Rocky Mountain locust is the one and only major insect pest to be completely wiped out, and they were driven to extinction unintentionally.
They were “pests” only in the eyes of the civilized. Prior to white settlement, there were no plowmen, ranchers, pests, or entomologists, just a wild ecosystem living in its traditional manner. Maybe entomologists should help us exorcist the pests in our nightmare worldview, teach us how to live in balance, and call an end to the futile poisonous war on our insect relatives.
Lockwood mused that crowding also inspires bizarre behavior in humans. We have powerful urges to escape from the neurotic mob, and fly away to places of refuge, to pure unspoiled suburban utopias.
He noted that while locust populations sometimes soared to enormous peaks, vast numbers did not guarantee long-term survival. He noted that the human population is currently at an enormous peak. Both humans and locusts are generalists that can migrate and adapt. Locusts dined on at least 50 varieties of plants. Humans, on the other hand, largely depend on three plants: rice, wheat, and corn. Will climate change be our bottleneck?
They were Rocky Mountain locusts, a North American species that lived west of the Mississippi — and the stars of Jeffrey Lockwood’s book, Locust. When swarming, these insects were a horror show. A swarm could devour 50 tons of greenery in a day. Trains couldn’t move because the tracks were too greasy. Swarms were like tornadoes, wiping out one area while leaving other neighbors in the region untouched.
In June of 1875, folks in Nebraska observed a swarm that was 1,800 miles long (2,900 km), 110 miles wide (177 km), and between a quarter and a half mile deep (0.4 to 0.8 km). It devoured 198,000 square miles (512,000 sq. km), an area almost as large as Colorado and Wyoming. The swarm took five days to pass. Lockwood estimated that it might have been 10 billion locusts — possibly the biggest assemblage of animals ever experienced by human beings.
Normally, maybe 80 percent of the time, locusts stayed in their home base, in the river valleys of the northern Rockies, a habitat that may have consisted of a mere 2,000 acres (809 ha). They ate, reproduced, and enjoyed life.
Periodic droughts would reduce the available food supply, causing locusts to crowd into pockets of surviving greenery. Dry weather eliminated the population control provided by fungal diseases. Drought also concentrated the nutritional value of vegetation. Warmer temperatures meant that locusts grew to maturity more quickly, so they spent less time in the nymph stage, when predators took a heavy toll on the helpless youngsters. The swarming process was triggered by crowding. They could either starve or see the world.
A hungry swarm of two million American settlers moved into the high plains in the 1870s, and ravaged the short grass prairie with cows and plows. They planted lots of wheat, and then discovered that locusts preferred wheat to everything else on the menu.
They exterminated the bison that were perfectly adapted to the ecosystem, and brought in cattle that were unsuited for the arid climate, did not fancy the native vegetation, and died like flies during frigid winters. They exterminated the wolves, and other wild predators, because they enjoyed owning and exploiting helpless dimwitted domesticated herbivores.
Settlers attempted to import their Western European way of life to an ecosystem where it could not possibly thrive. Instead of trying to adapt to the ecosystem, they expected the ecosystem to adapt to their exotic fantasies — a traditional recipe for failure. In their dream world, locusts were pests, wolves were pests, bison were pests — death to all pests!
The Indians perceived locusts, wolves, and bison as being sacred relatives, not pests. The Indians enjoyed a time-proven culture that was well adapted to the ecosystem. Can you guess who the Indians considered to be pests?
Long ago, in the wilderness of Judea, there was a holy roller named John. One day, he baptized a lad called Jesus. The heavens opened up, a spirit appeared, and led Jesus away to the wilderness for a life changing 40 day vision quest. The Baptist had a wild diet: “And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4)
To the Indians, locusts were not pests, they were a sacred source of nutritious food. Their tasty flesh was rich with calories and 60 percent protein. In an hour, they could forage 200 pounds (90 kg) of dried insects, storing away 273,000 calories. It was faster, easier, and safer than hunting large, strong, speedy herbivores with sharp horns that took great pleasure in trampling and disemboweling hunters.
At the Great Salt Lake, Mormons discovered that locusts couldn’t swim. Millions would drown, and then the winds would push their bodies to the shore, in piles six feet high (1.8 m) and two miles long (3.2 km). As the corpses rotted, memorable fragrances wafted on the air. While a tremendous source of excellent food rotted away, the settlers complained about the stink.
White settlers loathed the locusts. Comically, everything they tried to exterminate the swarms failed — flooding, rollers, dynamite, trawlers, poisons, flamethrowers. During the swarming phase, resistance was futile, the insects were impossible to control.
Eventually, entomologists were summoned to combat the insects with science. Several chapters shine spotlights on famous entomologists who strove to understand locusts, and render them harmless to the devastating swarms of white settlers.
As more settlers moved into the high plains, the locust numbers declined. There were fewer swarms. Attention shifted to other challenges. Eventually, entomologists realized that nobody had seen a locust in a long time. The last Rocky Mountain locust died in Manitoba in 1902. They went extinct, but folks didn’t notice for quite a while. It was unimaginable that critters that existed in such enormous numbers could completely disappear within a few decades.
A number of half-baked theories attempted to explain the spooky extinction, but Lockwood was the one who finally solved the mystery. He visited several “grasshopper glaciers” where layers of dead locusts could be observed, and found locusts that died 800 years ago. Swarming was not caused by settlers.
One day, he had an insight. Monarch butterflies are vulnerable to extinction because the forests where they spend the winter are being eliminated, and this is a bottleneck. The bottleneck for the locusts was their home base along northern river valleys — arable lands, exactly where whites preferred to settle. Irrigation, tilling, and cattle grazing hammered the locusts where they were most vulnerable, home sweet home.
Entomologists around the world work tirelessly to discover new methods for exterminating agricultural pest species, and the insects always succeed in outwitting the wizards. The Rocky Mountain locust is the one and only major insect pest to be completely wiped out, and they were driven to extinction unintentionally.
They were “pests” only in the eyes of the civilized. Prior to white settlement, there were no plowmen, ranchers, pests, or entomologists, just a wild ecosystem living in its traditional manner. Maybe entomologists should help us exorcist the pests in our nightmare worldview, teach us how to live in balance, and call an end to the futile poisonous war on our insect relatives.
Lockwood mused that crowding also inspires bizarre behavior in humans. We have powerful urges to escape from the neurotic mob, and fly away to places of refuge, to pure unspoiled suburban utopias.
He noted that while locust populations sometimes soared to enormous peaks, vast numbers did not guarantee long-term survival. He noted that the human population is currently at an enormous peak. Both humans and locusts are generalists that can migrate and adapt. Locusts dined on at least 50 varieties of plants. Humans, on the other hand, largely depend on three plants: rice, wheat, and corn. Will climate change be our bottleneck?
January 7, 2009
One review of this book called it an 'entomological thriller', which made me laugh, but then I started reading... and I have to agree! Jeff Lockwood is a professor at the University of Wyoming and is every bit as funny, observant, and scientifically accurate in dialogue as he is on the page. If you enjoy nature, mystery writing, adventure, or good nonfiction narration, you'll get a kick out of this crazy read, and will probably want to take a trip out to the Rockies just to breathe the air described in his various locust-seeking camp-outs.
January 10, 2025
i feel so incredibly lucky to learn with this professor next semester! this book was SO intelligent and heartfelt despite being about an obscure insect. i really hope more nonfiction is like this. very very lovely.
September 6, 2012
Read this slowly and drink it all in. Lockwood puts the Rocky Mountain Locust into historical perspective and introduces you into all the characters (and some of them really are) concerned from Laura Ingalls Wilder to New York Financier Jay Cooke. Finding the frozen remains of an extinct insect species in a glacier (that is also quickly disappearing despite what you might think about Global Warming) was a personal challenge to Lockwood, who doesn't just write about "science stuff," but is a professor of entomology at the University of Wyoming and can tell tales of the dangers of field work.
Yes, he makes it into sort of a mystery by using the terminology of the genre, but there is no single perpetrator. And, in fact, he seems to hint that he has found possible living examples of the victim, if a rapacious horde of a billion insects can be thought of in the singular. It turns a bit mystical at the end, but otherwise a fascinating read.
Yes, he makes it into sort of a mystery by using the terminology of the genre, but there is no single perpetrator. And, in fact, he seems to hint that he has found possible living examples of the victim, if a rapacious horde of a billion insects can be thought of in the singular. It turns a bit mystical at the end, but otherwise a fascinating read.
May 27, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up: Remember those stories of huge locust swarms in the Old West? So huge that the swarm would block the sun and devour all plant material for miles in a matter of minutes? Yeah me too.
In 1875 one swarm contained 3.5 trillion locusts. Trains couldn’t run because the tracks were too slick. People lost all their produce and crops and even their farms. In a half hour all the grass and trees and bushes were stripped. But we don’t hear about devastating locust swarms in the West anymore. In fact that species is considered extinct now. What happened to them all? This book asks and untangles exactly that.
This book really is fascinating, especially the descriptions of what it was like to live through one of these swarms and how people tried to manage them. Did you know someone made a horse-drawn flamethrower to try to kill these insects?? The author takes you through the story, the science (including several paragraphs on male locust genitalia which is more than I ever wanted to know about that topic!), and finally what really did happen to them which is not as dramatic as you think (and which I won’t spoil here).
I didn’t agree with all of his conclusions on things throughout this book, but for being a book about enormous bug invasions (something I’m notoriously not a fan of), it was surprising compelling and hard to put down.
In 1875 one swarm contained 3.5 trillion locusts. Trains couldn’t run because the tracks were too slick. People lost all their produce and crops and even their farms. In a half hour all the grass and trees and bushes were stripped. But we don’t hear about devastating locust swarms in the West anymore. In fact that species is considered extinct now. What happened to them all? This book asks and untangles exactly that.
This book really is fascinating, especially the descriptions of what it was like to live through one of these swarms and how people tried to manage them. Did you know someone made a horse-drawn flamethrower to try to kill these insects?? The author takes you through the story, the science (including several paragraphs on male locust genitalia which is more than I ever wanted to know about that topic!), and finally what really did happen to them which is not as dramatic as you think (and which I won’t spoil here).
I didn’t agree with all of his conclusions on things throughout this book, but for being a book about enormous bug invasions (something I’m notoriously not a fan of), it was surprising compelling and hard to put down.
February 1, 2018
Well, that title is a heck of a mouthful. I picked this as the next target for operation “be less scared of bugs by learning about them”, since locusts are not likely to be a problem where I am, but they’re just freaky enough (particularly in some of the accounts of locusts blotting out the sky) to make me a little bit uncomfortable. Less safe than bees, but further away.
In any case, Locust is a mostly interesting discussion of locusts and their impact on the North American frontier. People starved thanks to locusts, and the damage they caused is almost beyond imagining now — because they disappeared. The book follows the people who tried to predict locust movements, who tried to fight them, and who tried to find them again after their disappearance to solve the mystery of why. It gets a little long-winded at times, particularly where it goes into biographical details about people I frankly can’t be bothered to retain information about (important as I’m sure they were in their own lives), but there is a lot of interesting information as well.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
In any case, Locust is a mostly interesting discussion of locusts and their impact on the North American frontier. People starved thanks to locusts, and the damage they caused is almost beyond imagining now — because they disappeared. The book follows the people who tried to predict locust movements, who tried to fight them, and who tried to find them again after their disappearance to solve the mystery of why. It gets a little long-winded at times, particularly where it goes into biographical details about people I frankly can’t be bothered to retain information about (important as I’m sure they were in their own lives), but there is a lot of interesting information as well.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
February 22, 2020
Locust is a great read. In this volume, Lockwood, an orthopteran expert, details not only his research into, but the entire historical account of the Rocky Mountain Locust, which mysteriously disappeared after the western colonization of the area. This book is fascinating. Lockwood integrates history, the development of entomology with respect to governmental agencies, pest control, and the expansion of the western frontier and settlement. There is something for every one is this book, even a reference to Laura Engels Wilder. Lockwood concludes with solving the mystery and connections to the human impact on environment and other organisms, and global climate change.
Highly recommended.
I also recommend is book, Grasshopper Dreaming.
Highly recommended.
I also recommend is book, Grasshopper Dreaming.
April 4, 2020
This was a good read charting the investigation into what the author calls the murder of a species, the terrifying Rocky Mountain Locust that destroyed many a farm family's hopes and dreams in the mid-1800s...then mysteriously vanished. The book dragged a bit in the middle, when the author spent a great deal of time on the lives and exploits of history's great entomologists, but as wegeot closer to the answer to the mystery I was quite riveted. Well written and well argued. A daunting portrait of how badly things can go wrong for a whole species, almost overnight.
December 11, 2017
Perhaps too much entomology for some tastes. But what I admired and enjoyed is that Lockwood takes this small creature and shows many aspects. He connects his study with frontier history, our ignorance of biology, agriculture, the effects on natural systems when humans alter habitat, and biodiversity. Lockwood shows the difficulties of research – there is funding, the challenge of crawling on a glacier and of scooping out dead locust bodies from the ice, and the struggle to get published.
This is a thoughtful book, and after the ID-ing is done, Lockwood spends time discussing how this field research differs from other kinds but is no less science. And he offers surprising thoughts on what it means to lose a species, even a pest. This topic is by no means dead; While the United State no longer visited by this plague, farmers in Central Asia still suffer from outbreaks.
This is a thoughtful book, and after the ID-ing is done, Lockwood spends time discussing how this field research differs from other kinds but is no less science. And he offers surprising thoughts on what it means to lose a species, even a pest. This topic is by no means dead; While the United State no longer visited by this plague, farmers in Central Asia still suffer from outbreaks.
March 29, 2016
Okay this book really deserves a 2.5 rating, but we don't have that option, so I have to give it a 2. Why? Well, it's a bug book. A bug book I had to read for class. Normally I find our "textbooks" to be interesting. I loved the interdisciplinary writing in it. However: I did NOT like the overall book. Some chapters were enthralling; others made me beg God (or whatever deity or lack thereof you wish to believe in) to end my misery. I get that Lockwood felt (and still feels) very passionate about entomology, but not all of us are as versed in it as he nor do we care as much. I fall into this category. Yes, I'm guilty. I would rather stomp on the whole lot of them.
Personal hatred of bugs aside, I couldn't get into it because of the level at which the reading was set. I get that you have to address the right audience; it's a collegiate level kind of book. But even for someone in college, portions of this went over my head. I've already lost track of the differences between spretus and migratoria. The very fact that I can remember those types is astounding. I get some people might be interested in this. Kudos. You have my respect. I just can't do it.
Conclusion
While Lockwood put his heart into this, and I feel bad for saying this, I doubt I'll touch this book again with a ten foot pole. Just thinking about the locust makes me gag. To those of you who like bugs or destruction, read on. You'll like this. For those like me who hate bugs? Run.
Personal hatred of bugs aside, I couldn't get into it because of the level at which the reading was set. I get that you have to address the right audience; it's a collegiate level kind of book. But even for someone in college, portions of this went over my head. I've already lost track of the differences between spretus and migratoria. The very fact that I can remember those types is astounding. I get some people might be interested in this. Kudos. You have my respect. I just can't do it.
Conclusion
While Lockwood put his heart into this, and I feel bad for saying this, I doubt I'll touch this book again with a ten foot pole. Just thinking about the locust makes me gag. To those of you who like bugs or destruction, read on. You'll like this. For those like me who hate bugs? Run.
November 26, 2014
Interesting book, but it's the modern sections that are the most interesting. It bogs down in the middle and gives a bit too much detail on the lives of the scientists studying locusts--their lives were interesting, but but I felt the focus of the book wandered too far.
I'd have liked to see more photographs or depictions of how the locusts differ from typical grasshoppers.
I'd have liked to see more photographs or depictions of how the locusts differ from typical grasshoppers.
June 21, 2023
I worked near Grasshopper Glacier in Montana and always wondered about these insects. They were like something out of a 50s SF film. Great book.
December 30, 2012
It was pretty interesting. I won't spoil the fun, but in reality what happened to the rocky mountain locust may have bearing on the monarch butterfly.
August 23, 2019
The story of the Rocky Mountain Locust which periodically devastated the fields of the pioneer settlers. By 1900, the locust had disappeared and it has never been clear why. Lockwood, an entomologist specializing in grasshoppers, details the story in this book and provides his (now the leading) theory as to why it disappeared.
Unfortunately, Lockwood is prone to many digressions and minimally relevant detail - to the point where it is difficult to reconstruct the events from his narrative. Conversely, the author fails to include much information such as the time period or the geographical areas that were affected.
An early chapter effectively describes the devastation of the locust plagues. Interestingly, many of the early settlers were religious but when their spiritual leaders characterized the infestations as God's retribution for their sins, found they could not decide what sins they had committed that merited such devastation.
The locust was identified as Melanoplus spretus by Benjamin Walsh in 1866. It was confused at times with other species such as the Carolina and Clear-winged Grasshoppers. Boris Uvarov had introduced the idea that locusts may have normal phase and a migratory phase and some thought that the Migratory Grasshopper (M. sanguinipes) was the Rocky Mountain locust in its normal phase. However, analysis of the genital structures showed this not to be the case.
One prominent researcher, Charles Riley, identified the outbreaks as originating in a Permanent Zone - unfortunately the author provides no information on its location.
A number of ideas as to why the locust had died out were proposed, including the increased growth of alfalfa, the destruction of the bison, and possible weather events. None of these seemed to provide a satisfactory fit with the observations.
Lockwood made trips to the Grasshopper Glacier in 1987 and the Knife Point Glacier in 2003 (both in Wyoming) to recover grasshopper remains that had been embedded in the glaciers. Those from the later were found to be Rocky Mountain locust.
Lockwood proposed the theory that it was the farming of lands in the montane river valleys of the West that destroyed the Rocky Mountain locust. Irrigation of these lands appears to have been at least part of the mechanism for destruction of the locust egg masses. Maps showing land under cultivation in the 1880's roughly correlate with Riley's Permanent Zone.
The author concludes with a variety of musings including the thought that perhaps Yellowstone National Park could be a reservoir for the Rocky Mountain Locust.
Unfortunately, Lockwood is prone to many digressions and minimally relevant detail - to the point where it is difficult to reconstruct the events from his narrative. Conversely, the author fails to include much information such as the time period or the geographical areas that were affected.
An early chapter effectively describes the devastation of the locust plagues. Interestingly, many of the early settlers were religious but when their spiritual leaders characterized the infestations as God's retribution for their sins, found they could not decide what sins they had committed that merited such devastation.
The locust was identified as Melanoplus spretus by Benjamin Walsh in 1866. It was confused at times with other species such as the Carolina and Clear-winged Grasshoppers. Boris Uvarov had introduced the idea that locusts may have normal phase and a migratory phase and some thought that the Migratory Grasshopper (M. sanguinipes) was the Rocky Mountain locust in its normal phase. However, analysis of the genital structures showed this not to be the case.
One prominent researcher, Charles Riley, identified the outbreaks as originating in a Permanent Zone - unfortunately the author provides no information on its location.
A number of ideas as to why the locust had died out were proposed, including the increased growth of alfalfa, the destruction of the bison, and possible weather events. None of these seemed to provide a satisfactory fit with the observations.
Lockwood made trips to the Grasshopper Glacier in 1987 and the Knife Point Glacier in 2003 (both in Wyoming) to recover grasshopper remains that had been embedded in the glaciers. Those from the later were found to be Rocky Mountain locust.
Lockwood proposed the theory that it was the farming of lands in the montane river valleys of the West that destroyed the Rocky Mountain locust. Irrigation of these lands appears to have been at least part of the mechanism for destruction of the locust egg masses. Maps showing land under cultivation in the 1880's roughly correlate with Riley's Permanent Zone.
The author concludes with a variety of musings including the thought that perhaps Yellowstone National Park could be a reservoir for the Rocky Mountain Locust.
March 14, 2023
I had a hard time rating this book. I settled on 4 out of 5.
The first couple of chapters and the last five chapters were 5/5 and exactly what I wanted when I picked up the book in a store in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He talks about the devastation of the locust attacks in the late 19th century and early efforts to figure out what was going on. Then, after an extensive background on the research of locusts, he comes to his field projects and his efforts to finally untangle what happened to the Rocky Mountain Locust. I really enjoyed his discussion of his research and the tales from his field project, one wild crime aside that was absolutely surreal to read.
I’m in the middle of reading an absolutely miserable book about “the curious Christian”. This professor *loves* the study of grasshoppers and the pursuit of the mystery of what happened to the Rocky Mountain Locust. He also talks in detail about asking good questions and how that is the most important skill for any scientist. I agreed with him so naturally I love that part, but I think it’s solid psychological advice for people.
One interesting part of his field project is whatever you think about climate change, this study gives an indisputable first hand view of what is happening to the glaciers in the northern Rockies.
The middle of the book is a textbook and it’s written by a detail-oriented professor who wanted to meticulously detail the efforts and the people behind the theories of why the Rocky Mountain locust simply disappeared. Every bit of information about all of the big players in locust research and application are discussed. I would feel like I had read a complete idea and found a place to stop, then realizing I had read about 3-4 pages. It took me a great while to finish these chapters. I would give those sections a 2.5 or 3 or so because it’s just hard to read textbooks.
The first couple of chapters and the last five chapters were 5/5 and exactly what I wanted when I picked up the book in a store in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He talks about the devastation of the locust attacks in the late 19th century and early efforts to figure out what was going on. Then, after an extensive background on the research of locusts, he comes to his field projects and his efforts to finally untangle what happened to the Rocky Mountain Locust. I really enjoyed his discussion of his research and the tales from his field project, one wild crime aside that was absolutely surreal to read.
I’m in the middle of reading an absolutely miserable book about “the curious Christian”. This professor *loves* the study of grasshoppers and the pursuit of the mystery of what happened to the Rocky Mountain Locust. He also talks in detail about asking good questions and how that is the most important skill for any scientist. I agreed with him so naturally I love that part, but I think it’s solid psychological advice for people.
One interesting part of his field project is whatever you think about climate change, this study gives an indisputable first hand view of what is happening to the glaciers in the northern Rockies.
The middle of the book is a textbook and it’s written by a detail-oriented professor who wanted to meticulously detail the efforts and the people behind the theories of why the Rocky Mountain locust simply disappeared. Every bit of information about all of the big players in locust research and application are discussed. I would feel like I had read a complete idea and found a place to stop, then realizing I had read about 3-4 pages. It took me a great while to finish these chapters. I would give those sections a 2.5 or 3 or so because it’s just hard to read textbooks.
June 21, 2024
Majority of this book was about specific Western entologists and not so much about the locusts until the last hundred or so pages. I found the parts about locusts, ecology, and actual science to be pretty readable. The historical parts felt like they were summaries of their source material with little relevance or added value. The pettiness the author has for squabbles with peers, large wordy self congratulatory interjections, and overly large claims unfortunately are also heavily interspersed with the parts actually about the locusts. At one point he goes from saying he was able to identify one tibia as EITHER a grasshopper or a locust then immediately goes on to say it is the oldest evidence of a locust outbreak in north America and a "swarm" of "Rocky Mountain Locusts" (guess it went from a grasshopper or locust to being definitively identified and author doesn't bother mentioning it; and from a single tibia to a swarm).
A reference to there being native American accounts from the early 1800s isn't explored at all and the native peoples are reduced down to an environmental factor instead of a potential expert source (it's dismissively mentioned that maybe they had more knowledge than assumed since they subsisted off the locusts and had certain land stewardship practices that could have been intentionally fostering them, but then does not explore, reference, or feature any native voices)
A little racist, a little religious, and very one sided/one note history. Maybe keep it about the bugs.
A reference to there being native American accounts from the early 1800s isn't explored at all and the native peoples are reduced down to an environmental factor instead of a potential expert source (it's dismissively mentioned that maybe they had more knowledge than assumed since they subsisted off the locusts and had certain land stewardship practices that could have been intentionally fostering them, but then does not explore, reference, or feature any native voices)
A little racist, a little religious, and very one sided/one note history. Maybe keep it about the bugs.
March 30, 2024
Perhaps this books biggest sin is that it is a bit misleading. I started reading this book with the expectation that it was going to primarily be about the extinct Rocky Mountain Locust, which it was in fairness, nominally about. However, most of the central portion of the book is about 19th century entomologists, and towards the end, the emphasis shifts to the author’s personal scientific adventures studying the extinct locust. This detour was a bit of a disappointment, as the book began discussing the topic I was originally interested in (the effects of the locusts on people living in the frontier) and then sort of abandoned it..
Although I find the author likable, in my opinion, too much time is spent talking about his research trips and the sort of (I think at least) banal scientific results that were produced from it. To emphasize again, I say this as someone who likes Lockwood). I also found some of the arguments made in the closing chapter were flimsy, particularly the attempt to use the extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust as a warning of the precarious of humans.
Still, the book was generally speaking, good, and successfully introduced the topic of Rocky Mountain Locusts.
Although I find the author likable, in my opinion, too much time is spent talking about his research trips and the sort of (I think at least) banal scientific results that were produced from it. To emphasize again, I say this as someone who likes Lockwood). I also found some of the arguments made in the closing chapter were flimsy, particularly the attempt to use the extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust as a warning of the precarious of humans.
Still, the book was generally speaking, good, and successfully introduced the topic of Rocky Mountain Locusts.
August 26, 2019
This was a "accidental" read for me - I came across this title while searching for another. I was so intrigued about the subject matter, mainly because I remember seeing these HUGE grasshoppers when I lived in Colorado as a child, and because I was fascinated by the recollection of Laura Ingalls Wilder, (the authoress of the Little House series) of the locust swarms that destroyed her family's crops. Interestingly enough, that exact story was noted by the author in this very interesting book. I tagged this as non-fiction adventure, because this was, in a way, a scientific adventure the author experienced trying to solve the mystery behind the Rocky Mountain locusts' disappearance from the landscape of the midwest.
The scientific descriptions where well written for a lay person as myself, with plenty of humor inserted by the author that made you want to know him - he's not another stuffy scientist researcher. Worth the time to read for sure.
The scientific descriptions where well written for a lay person as myself, with plenty of humor inserted by the author that made you want to know him - he's not another stuffy scientist researcher. Worth the time to read for sure.
July 26, 2024
Don't be fooled by how long it took me to read through this one -- it's just a quirk of access to a copy.
This is one of the best and most important books on American history I've ever read. "Wait," you might say. "How is a book about locusts an important HISTORY book?"
Well, nothing happens in a vacuum. The story of the Rocky Mountain locust touches every facet of the history of this continent.
There were points I got a little bored of the deep biological dives into previous scientists who studied the Rocky Mountain locust, but the payoff did come, and I ended up finding the sub-story of the process of scientific discovery as compelling as that of the locust. Lockwood is a cogent and emotionally aware writer. Just great stuff. Read it!
This is one of the best and most important books on American history I've ever read. "Wait," you might say. "How is a book about locusts an important HISTORY book?"
Well, nothing happens in a vacuum. The story of the Rocky Mountain locust touches every facet of the history of this continent.
There were points I got a little bored of the deep biological dives into previous scientists who studied the Rocky Mountain locust, but the payoff did come, and I ended up finding the sub-story of the process of scientific discovery as compelling as that of the locust. Lockwood is a cogent and emotionally aware writer. Just great stuff. Read it!
August 22, 2021
This is an exhaustive and thoroughly researched history of Melanoplus spretus. It recounts the locust outbreaks, the lives of the researchers who tried to understand them, and the author's own search for the truth. The book's most interesting parts (the author's investigation, proposed solution, and the locust's biology) are too brief compared to the historical part, which makes the book less than perfectly interesting, but it still deserves to be read. Biologists should find it especially engaging because it offers a glimpse at the way biology was done in the past and integrates some important ecological concepts.
January 26, 2022
This was a re-read in preparation for my library book discussion in February. A completely fascinating and very well-written and researched (heck, he's a scientist, so no surprise) book about the demise of the locust swarms that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her Little House books--she also wrote about the blizzard of 1888 that killed lots of school children in the Dakotas in The Long Winter. Lockwood has a way of explaining complex scientific knowledge in a fascinating and (mostly) easy to understand manner (okay, I had to re-read some sentences to understand better). I'm hoping for a lively discussion.
January 18, 2019
This book is a thorough study of the search for an explaination of the rather sudden extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust in the last few decades of the nineteenth century. The conclusion has significant ecological implications of what may lying in wait for all mankind in the near future. While the detail of the authors exploration of the subject is somewhat ponderous it is surely worthwhile.
November 29, 2019
The locust that destroyed the lives of homesteaders across the American prairies in the 1870s apparently went extinct by 1900. Lockwood explores this insect and its extinction, culminating with his 1990 explanation which has so far held up. It took a while for this account to grab me, but Lockwood shows the importance of the locust in the politics of homesteading and disaster aid, and the contrasts between attitudes in agriculture and industry. He provides a nice account of the meandering ways of science and the ebb and flow of hypotheses.
October 27, 2019
Science class was never my favorite so a book about the extinction of a bug doesn't sound like it would be that interesting. This book is great though. It has entomology and history and references to On the Banks of Plum Creek.
July 27, 2022
Fascinating! A suspenseful and historical reveal of a creature long forgotten and presumed extinct!
I am enjoying how Lockwood toys with author! You got me at “bison” and kept me all the way back to the “glacier!”
I am enjoying how Lockwood toys with author! You got me at “bison” and kept me all the way back to the “glacier!”
August 20, 2025
I bought this class for a book that I ended up dropping but then decided to read the book anyway. I really enjoyed the science and conservation parts, but could have done without some of the chapters in the middle. I learned so much about a very niche topic and really enjoyed the end
October 18, 2025
Nicely written, almost a textbook one rather than an enjoyable one. If you have to read something about the history of Locusts, then by all means dive in--otherwise skim it and put it next to a door as a prop--or read the reviews-- that will fill you in and not waste your time
January 29, 2022
This book was one part memoir one part history one part scientific discovery. It came together beautifully.
June 20, 2022
How can anyone write that well?! Unbelievable.
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