Locust

Locusts are not a separate insect family from grasshoppers but a name for species with pronounced phase changes. Crowding can alter movement, appearance and social behavior, leading individuals to gather and travel together. Wingless young move on the ground, while adults may form airborne swarms. Food and weather influence where populations grow and move. Not every grasshopper can become a locust, and a gathering of ordinary grasshoppers is not necessarily a locust swarm.