The desert locust has been a notorious pest since ancient times. A population upsurge hit Pakistan in 2019 and caused tremendous damage to agriculture and livelihoods. To take advantage of this ongoing upsurge, we conducted a field study to verify whether locust collection could be an interesting control method to protect crops in the event of an invasion, as well as an accepted food resource for poor rural communities. A village in the Thar desertic region was selected as a type-locality. An awareness campaign was launched to promote the collection and consumption of locusts as well as to alert people of their nutritional value. Two large swarms arrived near the village and several other swarms affected places nearby. Around 3033 kg of locusts were collected through handpicking at night. Most of the locusts were eaten and, as a result, hoppers of the next generation did not emerge in the type-locality; however, hopper bands appeared in areas where entomophagy was not practiced. The study area had less locust activity because swarms could not lay eggs due to entomophagy by the villagers. The consumption of desert locusts could be an effective practice to prevent malnutrition and protein deficiency and, to a certain extent, an efficient mitigation measure to help local populations to better protect themselves and their crops against locust outbreaks. Collection and consumption of locusts should be encouraged while remaining realistic about its real impact on locust control. This should also be done in concert with local authorities to take into account the risks to human health and to avoid the consumption of insects treated with pesticides.

中文翻译：

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吞噬可以成为沙漠蝗虫管理中的有效缓解措施吗？

自古以来，沙漠蝗虫就一直是臭名昭著的害虫。人口激增在2019年袭击了巴基斯坦，对农业和生计造成了巨大破坏。为了利用这一持续不断的高潮，我们进行了实地研究，以验证蝗虫收集是否可以作为一种有趣的控制方法，以在发生入侵时保护农作物，以及是否为贫困农村社区所接受的粮食资源。塔尔沙漠地区的一个村庄被选为典型地点。开展了宣传运动，以促进蝗虫的收集和消费，并提醒人们其营养价值。两只大群蜂拥而至村庄附近，另外几只蜂群则影响附近的地方。晚上通过手工采摘收集到约3033公斤的蝗虫。大部分蝗虫被吃掉了，结果，下一代的漏斗没有出现在典型的地方。然而，漏斗带出现在不进行昆虫吞噬的区域。该研究区的蝗虫活动较少，因为由于村民的食虫症，成群的虫无法产卵。食用沙漠蝗虫可能是预防营养不良和蛋白质缺乏的有效做法，并且在某种程度上是一种有效的缓解措施，可以帮助当地居民更好地保护自己和农作物免受蝗虫的侵害。应鼓励收集和食用蝗虫，同时要保持对蝗虫控制的实际影响保持现实。还应与地方当局合作，考虑到对人类健康的危害，并避免食用经过农药处理的昆虫。