This care sheet describes the family Acrididae and may not be a full Locust care sheet because of many variations within the family. For more in this family see Category:Acrididae.

Locust are probably the largest type of insect that you will use as livefood. Adults measure up to 8cm and are a yellow colour with darker brown/purple patches. They are popular for their large gut content which means they are highly nutritious feeders but are somewhat expensive compared to other foptions.

The Locust is a fascinating insect. They are quite pleasant to have around and will not try to bite like a cricket would. Locust are often portrayed as a swarm insect that destroys crops and eats everything in their path. In fact, they are lower down the pecking order than crickets so the two should never be mixed, unless the aim is to feed the crickets. However, they do eat a lot and grow fairly quickly.

Only adult locust have wings that are able to give them flight. All locust have wings but only at the 5th and final moult a locust develops flying wings and are capable of flight over short distances.

Locust have amazing claws they can hold onto and climb just about anything including glass. They tend to hang upside down while shedding so their good grip comes is readily employed.

Housing and Heating

Housing locust is just like housing crickets, you will want to put them in the biggest tub you can find (of course glass is fine), as long as it is sufficiently deep to deter any would-be escapees. Ventilation is important to locust so make sure the lid is perforated with holes, you can do this with a drill or a soldering iron. As locust prefer to perch a substrate really is not necessary, so a simple stack of egg crates does the trick and also provides hiding places. For water, provide a dish of damp kitchen roll, this prevents drowning and is easily changed when it gets dirty.

When it comes to cleaning time after a week or two, there are several options. You are probably best lifting out the hides slowly and transferring them to another tub while working around the rest of the locust while cleaning the tub. Shake the locust off the egg crates and throw them away, swap them with clean ones and you have a nice clean tub of locust. Alternatively you can use all the locust then throw the whole lot away before purchasing a fresh batch.

As for temperature, locusts like a temperature of 25-33°C (77-91.4°F) and a dry atmosphere which will prevent fungal infections.

Feeding Locust

Feeding is very similar to crickets. They need to be provided with a good supply of dry foods, “bug grub” is an insect feeder that has a mixture of ingredients designed to be fed to insects so that they have a good gut content and provide ample nutrients to your pets. Alternative foods can be used such as bran, weetabix, digestives and bread. Fruits such as grapes, apples or vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes and cabbage provide extra vitamins and moisture. If moist foods are available on a regular basis then a water dish is not really needed.

Breeding Locust

Temperature and humidity are important in breeding. Eggs are laid in a 4 inch deep dish filled with silver or sharp sand so prepare a tub as such. The sand should be kept moist but not too wet so it looks soggy.

The female locust will position herself over the sand dish and push her down and deposit up to 200 eggs. Hoppers will emerge after 10 – 12 days. The hoppers will go through 5 instar molting before becoming adult locust.