Adonis Diaries

“A plague of over 30 million locusts swarmed over Egypt’s cities and farms just three weeks before Passover begins,” reports The Atlantic magazine.

“This happens every year as part of the locusts’ natural migration pattern, though this year’s swarm is especially large. That doesn’t mean Egyptians aren’t freaked the heck out by millions of nasty bugs buzzing through the air at all hours of day and night, possibly descending upon the agriculture fields where they’re known to destroy entire crops, just like in the actual Passover story.”

Other reports are popping up on CBS News  and MSNBC, and in the Times of Israel,Haaretz, and other publications in the Middle East.

“The crops are so far safe, Egyptian officials assured the public,” The Atlantic reports. “As the plague made its way from the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia at the end of last week and this weekend”.

Egyptian Agricultural Minister Salah Abdel Moamen explained the situation to the country in a calmly worded statement. ‘The current inspection teams at areas targeted by locusts did not witness swarms damaging a single inch of crop,’ said Moamen. He added that the locusts are ‘sexually immature and do not depend on plants for energy since they mainly rely on fat stores.’”

“That said, these plagues can be unpredictable,” notes The Atlantic. “Egyptian officials didn’t expect the plague to pass by the country’s capital. And by Sunday the locusts unexpectedly arrived in Cairo.

The government denied reports that the locusts had started devastating crops as well as a report from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that the Ministry of Agriculture cleared 11,000 hectares of land in an attempt to save the harvest.

When they get hungry, a one-ton hoard of locusts can eat the same amount of food in one day as 2,500 humans, according to the UN. Egypt knows this too.

Less than a decade ago, a plague of locusts nearly 40 miles wide swept over Egypt damaging crops at the majority of the country’s farms.

Note 1: It appears that the vast island of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean and in East Africa is the hardest hit by the locust calamity.

Note 2: Lebanon witnessed a locust “hazard” in 1915, and for 3 months ate the dry and the green, adding to the famine generated by the WWI when the Turkish army confiscated all food and able men to the war machine. Almost a fourth of Lebanon population died of famine and consequent illnesses, particularly in the mountain districts of Betroun and Jbeil where half the people in towns perished.

Note 3: I read that locust is your regular normal critter that transforms into a devouring insect when conditions are appropriate.