LOCUSTS INVADE ISRAEL

Locust always brings to me images of Biblical plagues. Wrath of the Almighty visiting punishment on the sinful. No matter what ancient peoples believed brought them this plague, the devastation caused by  created hunger and suffering. If that was not enough, the fear of a return of locust and being helpless.

Anyway, them little buggers are still active.

Locusts arrive in Tel Aviv, northern Israel

After swarms of grasshoppers swooped en masse on south, few manage to make way to center and even north of country.

Despite an additional round of insecticide spraying in the south, Saturday saw swarms of the reddish grasshoppers descend upon the country, with some successfully making their way out of the south and into the center, and even northern parts of Israel.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, "These are a handful of locusts that have already been in the country since the beginning of the week.

"In small numbers they are harmless," the ministry promised, expressing hope that "from this point on, we won't see any more massive swarms." It cited the completion of an additional round of insecticide fumigation Saturday.

Those locusts already in the country are described as a small pack and not a massive swarm. This group arrived in the Negev earlier this week causing massive damages to crops, estimated at the hundreds of thousands.

Apparently strong winds aided some members of this locust pack in making their way to the center of the country, with a few minor swarms successfully even making it all the way to the north.

ynet news