Migratory Locusts

🔤 Taxonomy

Locusta migratoria is the accepted scientific name used for this feeder guide.

Common names used in the feeder trade:

• Migratory locust
• Feeder locust

📌 Description

Migratory locusts are active, lean, high-movement feeders for larger insectivorous reptiles, amphibians, birds, and invertebrates. They are excellent enrichment prey, but they need more space, heat, light, and plant food than most small feeder insects.

Plan them as high-light, high-ventilation, plant-fed feeders rather than damp tub insects. Their gut content should be clean grasses and greens, and their jumping strength makes size matching important.

🌍 Distribution

The species has a very broad Old World range across Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, with outbreak and resident populations varying by region. Feeder stock should be treated as secure captive livestock.

For keeper practice, biosecurity matters more than a precise range map: commercial feeder and cleanup-culture invertebrates are moved far outside their natural ranges, and escaped animals should never be released or treated as harmless.

⚖️ Regulations and safety

Locusta migratoria is not listed in the CITES Appendices in the official CITES checklist reviewed for this guide. No specific EU wildlife trade Annex listing was found for the species.

The EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation restricts species on the Union list; this guide does not treat Locusta migratoria as a Union-list species. Local and national rules can still restrict live invertebrate imports, transport, breeding, sale, use in schools or workplaces, and disposal.

The Bern Convention is not normally relevant because this is not a European native protected-species care issue. Keep cultures secure, never release live feeders, and freeze surplus or unwanted invertebrates before disposal where local rules allow.

🤌 Husbandry

Locusts need more space, heat, bright visible light, and vertical ventilation than most feeder insects. A tall mesh or heavily ventilated box with dry footing works better than a small damp tub.

Good setup:

• Smooth-sided plastic tub, cup, or ventilated culture box
• Fine mesh or fabric ventilation sized for the feeder
• Dry food or base medium separated from wet food where possible
• Sorting container for feeding and cleaning
• Clear date labels for cultures and purchased batches

💡 Lighting

Locusts do not need UVB for feeder holding, but they do need bright visible light and a clear day-night rhythm to feed and bask normally. Keep containers out of uncontrolled direct sun because overheated boxes kill them quickly.

🌡 Heating and temperature

Recommended ranges:

• Holding: 24-30°C
• Basking/feeding zone: 32-38°C
• Egg laying/incubation: 28-32°C
• Avoid cold damp crowded boxes

💧 Humidity and water

Moisture should be controlled rather than stagnant. Remove moldy food quickly, keep dry foods dry, and give moisture from safe foods or a small controlled damp area.

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

Use enough surface area and ventilation to prevent crowding, condensation, and odor. Keep cultures simple so dead animals, spoiled food, and mites can be spotted quickly. Clean small holding tubs between batches and refresh long-term cultures before they collapse.

🪳 Feeding

Useful foods:

• Fresh pesticide-free grasses and leafy greens
• Wheat bran or dry grass-based feed as backup
• Avoid toxic houseplants and pesticide-treated greens

Offer pesticide-free grasses and leafy greens with a dry backup feed. Gut-load on clean greens for 24-48 hours, remove wilted food quickly, and do not feed locusts collected from treated fields or gardens.

🥚 Breeding

Breeding requires warm, bright, well-ventilated cages and deep moist laying tubs for eggs. Because locusts are agricultural pests in many regions, breeding and transport may be restricted and escape prevention is critical.

Do not let breeding goals override feeder quality. Cultures that smell sour, contain many dead animals, or show heavy mites should not be used for sensitive animals.

🩺 Common problems

Common problems:

• Mold from excess moisture or stale food
• Mites from damp waste and old cultures
• Escape through poor lids or oversized ventilation mesh
• Nutritional imbalance when one feeder is used alone
• Predator injury or impaction risk when feeders are oversized
• Culture crashes from heat, crowding, pesticides, or contamination

📌 Conclusion

Migratory locusts are excellent movement feeders when they are warm, bright, dry, and fed clean greens. The major risks are escape, pesticide exposure, crowding, and keeping them like ordinary crickets.

📚 Sources and further reading

• GBIF taxonomy: Locusta migratoria
• CITES Appendices
• European Commission: invasive alien species