Explore

@watermancenter.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 4:28 PM

This #grasshopper looks like its hanging on to summer as long as it can
#macro #macrophotography #naturephotography #melanoplus #insects #fallinsects #entomology #locusts

@bearcaveofterror.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:58 AM

Day 7 is 1977's Exorcist II: The Heretic, directed by John Boorman. Wacky, experimental, and also has James Earl Jones dressed like a giant grasshopper. Linda Blair does great, and Louise Fletcher is a SAINT. Sadly hypnolights and Richard Burton in Africa put me to sleep...
#horroraday #locusts

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 3:56 PM

Grasshopper Figure
carved hematite
c. 1800-1700 BC
Old Babylonian culture
Babylon

#handmade #carved #hematite #grasshopper #art #sculpture #ancientsculpture #ancientart #Babylonia #culture #Babylon #EuphratesRiver #nature #beauty #ancientBabylonia #fertility #omen #astrology #locusts #foodsource

In ancient Babylonia and the broader Mesopotamian culture, grasshoppers (and their swarming phase, locusts) held a multi-layered, dual meaning. They represented both a positive symbol of fertility and abundance and a destructive force of nature used in divination and dietary sustenance.
In their solitary, non-destructive form, grasshoppers were viewed by Babylonians as symbols of the natural cycle, fertility, and abundance. Because they appeared in large numbers during agricultural cycles, they were tied to the life-giving forces of the earth.
This famous example is a beautifully detailed, nearly 4,000-year-old Babylonian stone weight carved from hematite in the shape of a grasshopper (c. 1800–1700 BCE). Used in markets for fair trade transactions, the grasshopper shape on the weight likely invoked blessings of agricultural prosperity and nature.
When solitary grasshoppers crowded together and transformed into swarming locusts, their meaning shifted drastically. To the Babylonians, a locust swarm was a catastrophic event that could strip fields bare and cause widespread famine.
Babylonians were deeply invested in astrology and divination. Grasshopper and locust behavior was carefully documented in cuneiform omen series (such as the Šumma Ālu). A swarm of grasshoppers appearing in a specific city or flying in a particular direction was interpreted as a direct message or warning from the gods, usually predicting economic ruin, military invasion, or divine displeasure.
Despite the threat they posed to crops, grasshoppers were heavily utilized by Babylonians in daily practical life.
Babylonians actively harvested locusts and grasshoppers for food. Cuneiform records show that mass amounts of these insects were caught, preserved in brine, and transported over hundreds of kilometers to be eaten as a protein-rich delicacy or everyday staple.

@marygeise.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:18 AM

Yup
I lived down there when he did it!
#locusts
They swoop in,
Take everything and leave the taxpayers to demolish the building.

@emory-f8.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:43 PM

The Rocky Mountain locust, which had seemingly existed in almost unimaginable numbers during the 1870s, declined rapidly toward the end of the nineteenth century.

Eventually, the species itself vanished.

#Victorian #history #locusts #ecology

It shows a photograph of a locust swarm.

@emory-f8.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:41 PM

People fought back using almost anything they could devise.

They attempted to destroy eggs, burned infested areas, dug trenches to trap young locusts, and developed mechanical devices commonly called hopperdozers.

#Victorian #history #locusts #ecology

It shows an illustration of farmers fighting giant anthropomorphic locusts.

@emory-f8.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:38 PM

The destruction wasn't limited to food intended for people. Vegetation and animal fodder could also be consumed, leaving farmers struggling to feed their livestock after the swarm moved on.

The sheer number of insects made the invasions particularly terrifying.

#Victorian #history #locusts

It shows a photograph of either a horse or donkey standing within a locust plague.

@emory-f8.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:35 PM

For farming families, the arrival of a swarm could mean financial ruin within hours.

The insects descended upon fields in immense numbers and consumed growing crops that families had spent months cultivating.

#Victorian #history #locusts #ecology

It shows a photograph of an elderly farmer witnessing the destruction of his crops by a locust plague.

@emory-f8.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:32 PM

Although destructive outbreaks had occurred before, the invasions between 1874 and 1876 reached catastrophic proportions.

Locusts devastated cultivated areas across states and territories.

#Victorian #history #locusts #ecology

It shows a map of the areas affected by the locust plague. The plague stretch from the Gulf of Mexico all the way through the Canadian plains.

@emory-f8.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:26 PM

Did you know?

In the Victorian era, enormous swarms of locusts descended upon the American West in numbers so overwhelming that they destroyed entire harvests, and contributed to the abandonment of farms?

The culprit was the Rocky Mountain locust.

#Victorian #history #locusts #ecology