Plague of Locusts

Behold, the locust.

Alone? A simple and usually solitary short-horned grasshopper.

But when the conditions are right?

Well, first let's discuss what those conditions are. Following a phase of drought and rapid vegetation growth, locusts begin to breed rapidly, with the groups of nymphs developing into wandering swarms of winged adults - and it is in both forms that they become a Plague of Locusts.

During "swarming" behavior, both nymph and adult populations are known to cause serious damage to crops and fields by stripping them thoroughly. Adult locusts in particular are powerful fliers capable of traveling great distances - not only is the phenomenon unsurprisingly widespread, it's also Older Than Dirt. The earliest instances are dated back to the ancient Egyptians and prehistory, while relatively later works such as The Iliad and The Qur'an also make mention of locust swarms as well.

This trope has a special prevalence as one of many well-established Biblical Motifs - among the most notable, Exodus 10:4 depicts a swarm of locusts as the eighth of the Ten Plagues that struck Egypt; "bald locusts" are listed among acceptable food for Israelites as far back as [[The Bible/Source/Leviticus|the Book of Leviticus 11:22; and in the New Testament, Matthew 3:4 and and Mark 1:6 assert that John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey during his stay in the wilderness.

The devastation of crops are a major factor in famines and human migrations as well as outbreaks of disease, to the point that locusts themselves are considered harbingers, if not carriers, of actual plagues. In fiction and literature, this connection has led to them being portrayed or symbolized as Walking Wastelands, almost always including making the insects inherently poisonous themselves. Funnily enough, locusts themselves have been used as a source of food, with many cultures across Africa, West Asia and East Asia considering locust a delicacy.

Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends

 * The Bible:
 * In addition to all the above, the book of Revelation mentions a special kind of hybrid "locust" whose descriptions more closely resemble armored horses with human heads and leonine teeth; led by Abaddon/Apollyon, the "angel of the abyss", these locusts were sent to torment those who had not yet accepted God and Christ, as signified by the marks on the chosen's foreheads.