Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Utah polls close @ 8p

Utah Soundscapes: Locusts

Here is a drawing of a Rocky Mountain Locust from the 1877 Federal Entomologist's Report.
Here is a drawing of a Rocky Mountain Locust from the 1877 Federal Entomologist's Report.

By Jeff Rice

Salt Lake City, UT – Just about every Utahn has heard of the Mormon cricket and its voracious appetite for crops. But less familiar is the Rocky Mountain locust. These winged grasshopper-like creatures descended upon the west in numbers much greater than Mormon crickets, and with far more devastation. Then, at the close of the 19th century, they became extinct. Jeff Rice reports for the Utah Soundscapes series about a vanished species and its sound.

Click here to link to the archives of Utah Soundscapes by Jeff Rice.

KUER is listener-supported public radio. Support this work by making a donation today.