Extinction of the Rocky Mountain Locust

Extract

Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier. Jeffery A. Lockwood. Basic Books, New York, 2004. 304 pages, illus. $25.00 (ISBN 0558964312 cloth).

The Rocky Mountain grasshopper, or locust, was a migratory insect that in peak population years spread over the Great Plains from Canada to Texas and periodically devastated the crops of homesteaders and farmers. The mystery began late in the 19th century: Instead of another invasion during the next drought cycle, the locust completely disappeared over the course of a few years, without any apparent cause.

Jeffery Lockwood, professor of natural sciences and humanities at the University of Wyoming, set out to reinvestigate the intriguing disappearance of the Rocky Mountain locust, which he calls “the quintessential ecological mystery of the North American Continent,” when existing extinction theories proved untenable. This popular account of his quest to solve this cold-case mystery is a synthesis of his and his students' research over several years.