Locusts live on every major continent except Antarctica, but the species that cause the most damage are concentrated in the arid and semi-arid zones of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. During quiet periods, the desert locust, the most destructive species on Earth, stays confined to remote deserts stretching from North Africa to Southwest Asia, an area of roughly 16 million square kilometers across about 30 countries. When conditions change, that range can explode to cover tens of millions of square kilometers, reaching into southern Europe, Central Asia, and deep into sub-Saharan Africa.
Desert Locust Home Range
The desert locust is the species most people picture when they think of locust plagues. In normal years, it lives in semi-arid and arid deserts that receive less than 200 millimeters of rain per year. These “recession areas” span a broad belt from Mauritania and Morocco in the west, through the Sahara, across the Arabian Peninsula, and into Iran, Pakistan, and western India. The locusts are scattered thinly across this landscape. Field surveys in desert habitats have recorded average densities as low as about 2 individuals per 1,000 square meters, so sparse that most people in the region would never notice them.
During plagues, the picture changes dramatically. Swarms can push into more than 60 countries. High-risk zones include South Sudan, northeastern Congo, central Uganda, northwestern Kenya, northern and central Ethiopia, the western side of the Arabian Peninsula, southern Pakistan, and the eastern coast of India. At its maximum seasonal extent in July, suitable habitat for desert locusts stretches across roughly 27.7 million square kilometers, reaching from northern Africa through the Arabian Peninsula, into Central Asia as far as southern Kazakhstan, across Iran and Pakistan, through the Indian subcontinent, and even into the southern part of Tibet. Scattered populations have been recorded as far north as southern Spain and as far south as South Africa.
Where Locusts Settle Day to Day
Within their home deserts, solitary locusts follow a precise daily routine shaped by heat. At night, they roost high in scattered trees. Shortly after sunrise, as temperatures climb, they descend to open, sunny ground to feed on low-growing annual plants. By midday, when ground temperatures can exceed 50°C, about 40% of them climb back into shady bushes and grasses to escape the heat. In the late afternoon, they return to the ground for a second feeding session, then fly or walk to trees before sunset to roost again.
For egg-laying, females are picky about soil. They seek out sandy ground with moisture levels between 5% and 25% at a depth of 2 to 15 centimeters. Eggs need that moisture to survive and develop. This is why rainfall in desert breeding areas matters so much: it determines whether the next generation hatches successfully.
What Triggers Locusts to Spread
Rain is the key. Prolonged drought followed by heavy, erratic rainfall creates a perfect sequence: floods trigger rapid vegetation growth in areas that were recently barren, concentrating locusts around fresh greenery and moist soil. As populations crowd together, a biological switch flips. Solitary locusts, which are green or brown and avoid each other, transform into gregarious locusts that are darker, more active, and attracted to one another. This phase change is what turns a scattered population into a migrating swarm.
The sporadic nature of desert rainfall makes this hard to predict. In the Thar Desert along the India-Pakistan border, for example, unpredictable rains have historically triggered locust bands that grow into full swarms, drawn along routes lined with bushes and plant colonies that provide food.
The Migratory Locust’s Range
The migratory locust is the most widespread locust species on the planet. Its native range spans northern and western Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and large parts of Asia, including China, India, Pakistan, and Japan. In Europe, populations are found in Spain, Italy, France, and Greece, concentrated mainly in western coastal areas and around the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Caspian Sea. It also lives in Australia and New Zealand.
Unlike the desert locust, which is restricted to arid zones between plagues, the migratory locust occupies a wider range of grassland and wetland habitats. Climate modeling suggests its suitable range could shift as global temperatures rise, potentially expanding into new areas in Europe.
Locusts in Australia
Australia has its own major species: the Australian plague locust. It is endemic across the continent but causes the most damage in inland eastern Australia, a zone covering roughly two million square kilometers. The Australian Plague Locust Commission, established in the mid-1970s, monitors populations across Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. Outbreaks typically follow cycles of drought and rain similar to those that drive desert locust plagues in Africa and Asia, with migration events carrying swarms across state boundaries.
Locusts in the Americas
South America’s primary locust species lives in the arid interior of Argentina. Its permanent breeding zone centers on the provinces of Catamarca and La Rioja, a landscape of desert and semi-desert where mountain ranges alternate with inland drainage basins, saltpans, silt deposits, and sand dunes. The vegetation is sparse: wooded steppe dominated by mesquite and creosote bushes, with tufts of grass and salt-tolerant shrubs on salty soils. From this core zone, swarms can spread into neighboring regions of Argentina and occasionally into Bolivia and Paraguay.
North America no longer has a locust problem. The Rocky Mountain locust, which once formed enormous swarms across the western United States and Canada, went extinct around 1902, likely due to agricultural settlement destroying its breeding habitat in river valleys.
Where Locusts Are Active Now
As of early 2025, a serious desert locust outbreak is ongoing in Western Sahara and southern Morocco, where adult groups have been moving northward and breeding has resumed. Some locusts have reached the Canary Islands and Algeria. Smaller populations have been detected in Mauritania, Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea. Between southern Mauritania and northern Senegal, several small immature swarms have been observed. Spring breeding on a smaller scale is expected in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Iran, and Pakistan, with the potential for localized breeding to extend into Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia through the spring.