Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)

Dociostaurus maroccanus
Other common names
Moroccan cross-backed grasshopper, Jerad-el-adami calai puj (Ar), Criquet marocain (Fr), Cavallette di Foggia (It), Марокканская саранча (Ru), langosta mediterránea (Sp)
Taxonomic classification
Suborder:	Caelifera
Family:	Acrididae
Subfamily:	Gomphocerinae
Tribe:	Dociostaurini
Genus:	Dociostaurus
Scientific name
Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg, 1815)
Geography
Native countries:
Georgia (country) Italy Kyrgyzstan Morocco Russia Tunisia Turkmenistan Afghanistan Azerbaijan Iraq Kazakhstan North Macedonia Tajikistan Algeria Armenia Portugal Uzbekistan Cyprus
Pest status
Known pest
Sound
Listen to this species on xeno-canto

The Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus) is a highly destructive agricultural pest species native to arid and semi-arid regions of the western Palearctic. It is known for its ability to form dense swarms under favorable environmental conditions, leading to severe damage to crops and pastures across North Africa, southern Europe, and parts of Central Asia.

Taxonomy

For full nomenclature and taxonomic details of this taxon, see Orthoptera Species File

Identification

The Moroccan locust is a species of slant-faced grasshopper in the family Acrididae. Slant-faced grasshoppers are recognized by their angled facial profile and typically slender, streamlined bodies with forward-tipped, pointed heads. Most slant-faced grasshoppers in North America belong to the subfamily Gomphocerinae, commonly known as “stridulating slant-faced grasshoppers” or “tooth-legged grasshoppers,” named for the row of pegs on the inner hind legs of males used to produce sound by rubbing against the wing edges. A smaller group with similar facial structure—the Acridinae, or “silent slant-faced grasshoppers”—lacks these pegs and does not produce sound. These silent forms are found in some parts of the United States but are absent from western Canadian grasslands.

The Moroccan locust belongs to Gomphocerinae. Members of this subfamily can be readily distinguished from other grasshopper groups: they lack the prosternal spine found in Melanoplinae and the large, colorful, lobed hind wings typical of Oedipodinae. They also differ behaviorally and morphologically from Acridinae.

A few specialized anatomical terms are useful for identifying grasshoppers in this subfamily. Grasshoppers have four wings, with the leathery, protective front pair known as the tegmina. Just behind the head lies the pronotum, a saddle-shaped structure forming the upper part (notum) of the prothorax, the front segment of the thorax. Along the center of the pronotum runs the median carina, a raised ridge, which may be intersected by sulci. At the tip of the head, a central dent called the fastigium may be seen, flanked by lateral foveolae, shallow pits bordered by small ridges. These features, often visible with a hand lens, are key to distinguishing between closely related species within the subfamily.

Moroccan locusts change how they look depending their phase. Solitary ones are smaller, with darker spots and a pale cross-shaped mark on their back. Gregarious locusts are larger and beige-yellow. Their front wings are long and almost clear, sometimes with small spots, and stretch past their back legs. The back legs are thin, with black marks in solitary locusts. The lower legs are usually red but can also be yellow, pink, or white.

The Moroccan Locust often co-occurs with the closely related Dociostaurus kraussi, which is stockier, with thicker hind femora, shorter wings that don’t reach the abdomen tip, and broader pale bands in the X-shaped pronotal markings. D. kraussi hatches about a week earlier, making its nymphs a useful indicator of the imminent hatching of D. maroccanus.

Identification details

Solitary-phase individuals are smaller than those in the gregarious phase. Adult body coloration ranges from greyish-yellow with dark spotting—especially prominent in the solitary phase—to a more uniform straw color in the gregarious phase. The prosternal tubercle is absent. The pronotum features three transverse grooves that extend onto the lateral lobes, and a yellowish or whitish cross marking is often visible on its surface. This pattern is more clearly visible in nymphs than in adults. The tegmina are well developed, nearly transparent, and extend well beyond the tip of the hind femur, sometimes bearing sparse, small brownish or greyish spots. The wings are fully transparent. The hind femora are slender, measuring 3.7 to 4.2 times longer than wide, and display black markings in solitary individuals. Hind tibiae are typically red, though they may also appear yellow, pinkish, or even whitish. FOr more information see FAO page on the Moroccan locust

Featured resources

• 
  Dociostaurus maroccanus Monograph
• 
  Moroccan locust info posters

Identification resources

Title	Author(s)	Year	Geographic purview	URL
Practical guidelines on the three locust pests in Caucasus and Central Asia	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2019
Moroccan locust info poster	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2021		View URL

Distribution

The Moroccan locust is found from the Atlantic islands (Canaries, Madeira) in the west to Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the east. The northern limits of its distribution area are reached in Hungary and Rumania. In Africa, the species occurs in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, with latitude 28N as the southern edge of its distribution area. In west and central Europe, it is found in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Kosovo, Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova and south-west Ukraine as well as in Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). In the Middle East and Minor Asia, it is found in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Moroccan Locust is present in all Central Asian countries, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the latter hosting the extreme north-eastern point of its distribution area (60 km E of Almaty).
The Moroccan Locust is not found north to 49N

For more information and distribution records see [GBIF]

Biology

The Moroccan locust is an early-spring species that typically hatches from late February to early March, with eggs hatching rapidly and synchronously over 3 to 5 days at a given site. Each nymphal stage lasts 5 to 7 days, and gregarious hoppers begin marching together from the second instar, sometimes reaching densities of several thousand per square meter. Adults usually emerge in April and start flying, mating, and laying eggs 10 to 15 days after reaching maturity, generally in May. The species completes its annual life cycle by June. Females lay 1 to 3 egg pods—occasionally up to 4—each containing an average of 30 eggs (ranging from 16 to 45), in bare or mosaic patches of undisturbed, unploughed soil. During outbreaks, group egg-laying is common, with egg-pod densities reaching as high as 8,000 per square meter. Eggs are deposited in very compact, clay-rich soil roughly one month after adult emergence.

Moroccan Locust numbers rise when temperatures are above average and spring rainfall stays below 100 mm for 2–3 years. Hoppers form long marching bands that devastate vegetation in hatching areas before moving from dry foothills to cultivated plains, damaging crops. Adults swarm, flying 20–100 m high at 8–10 m/s, typically covering 50–75 km, occasionally up to 250 km per season.

Habitat and ecology

The Moroccan locust typically inhabits semi-desert foothills with a patchy mix of bare soil and short-lived vegetation, dominated by grass species like Poa bulbosa. It prefers clay-loam, slightly saline soils, and lays eggs only in compact, undisturbed ground. This species is highly polyphagous, feeding on more than 210 plant species from 36 families, impacting over 50 different agricultural crops including cereals, legumes, vegetables, cotton, cucurbits, orchards, vineyards, and even conifers. Nymphs first damage natural pasture in foothill hatching areas, then move to valleys to consume crops.

Hopper bands begin mass migration from the 2nd instar, covering 3 to 5 km during their nymphal stage. Adult swarms can travel 25–30 km, occasionally more, over their lifetime. These flights are often transboundary, making monitoring and control more difficult.

Rose starlings reduce nymph numbers, blister beetles and bee-flies prey on eggs, and tachinid flies parasitize nymphs and adults. Natural enemies are most active during population declines.

Land-use change

Spring rainfall influences Moroccan locust development, but human activities may play a larger role: deforestation and overgrazing promote colonization, but converting grasslands to cropland reduces suitable egg-laying sites. These opposing factors drive regional population trends. While usually found at elevations of 800–1200 m, warming climates have enabled it to spread to altitudes of 1500 m and beyond. Overgrazing can create favorable conditions, and outbreaks are often triggered by droughts with less than 100 mm of rainfall between February and April.

Pest status

The Moroccan locust is considered the primary locust pest in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Since the start of the 21st century, damage from D. maroccanus has also been reported in 25 countries, including Spain, Italy (Sardinia), Turkey, Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.

In Afghanistan, Moroccan Locust infestations mainly occur in the northern and northeastern provinces such as Samangan, Kunduz, Baghlan, Balkh, Takhar, Sar-i-Pul, Faryab, Jawzjan, Ghor, Herat, and Badghiz. During severe outbreaks, swarms often cross borders into Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

Tajikistan contains important permanent breeding grounds for the Moroccan locust, also serving as a link to its other Central Asian habitats in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

Outbreaks

Italy 2019 -2020

Every year between 2012 to 2023, Tajikistan saw outbreaks of economic importance, totaling 752,130 hectares affected in southern Tajikistan alone.

Outbreak media coverage

2020
Sardinian farmers suffer worst locust invasion in over 30 years July 13, 2022
Israeli locust expert flies to Sardinia to help fight outbreak July 4, 2022
Locusts infested about 2,000 hectares of farm land in Aksy May 10, 2022
Sardinia hit by worst locust invasion for 70 years June 11, 2019

Associated organizations

Organization name	Acronym	Website	Type	Focus	Focus keywords	Geographic purview
FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia	CCA	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Education, Information Hub, Governance	Training, Regional cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Policy, Forecasting	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan

Resources

Title	Author(s)	Year	Geographic purview	URL
FAO’s technical series on locust management in the Caucasus and Central Asia	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia,Alexandre Latchininsky	2026
IUCN European Red List of Grasshoppers, Crickets and Bush-crickets		2016		View URL
FAO Locust Watch Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) meeting, research, workshop, survey report collection	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2022
Improving national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2015		View URL
Practical guidelines on the three locust pests in Caucasus and Central Asia	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2019
Practical Guidelines on Pesticide Risk Reduction for Locust Control in CCA	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,Harold Van der Valk	2019
Calendars 2023 on locust control safety measures	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2023
Moroccan locust info poster	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2021		View URL
Dociostaurus maroccanus Monograph	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	2023		View URL
CABI Green Muscle education videos	Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International	2021
FAO Locust Watch bulletin for locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia	FAO Locust Watch in Caucasus and Central Asia and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations			View URL
Locust Literature	The French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development			View URL

Specimen contributors for this species

Natural history collections are built by people. The specimens that document this species were collected in the field, preserved in collections, and identified by generations of researchers and naturalists. Bionomia helps make these often-overlooked contributions visible by linking specimen records to the people behind them.

The contributors shown here are drawn from specimen records made available through GBIF and attributed to individuals by Bionomia. Each list shows up to the 20 people with the most specimens for this species, ranked from most to fewest.

Collected by

These people collected specimens of this species in the field, helping build the physical record of where and when it has occurred.

• Fabian A. Boetzl — 11 specimens collected
• Sebastian Ćato — 6 specimens collected
• Josip Skejo — 5 specimens collected

• Andre Hospers — 5 specimens collected
• Attila Lengyel — 2 specimens collected

Identified by

These people examined specimens and determined their taxonomic identity—an essential step in turning a collected specimen into a useful biodiversity record.

• Josip Skejo — 19 specimens identified
• Sebastian Ćato — 6 specimens identified
• Valentin Moser — 2 specimens identified

• Марина Горбунова — 1 specimen identified