They have large national parks which can't be treated under present circumstances if the locusts go in. These would be the areas targeted for use of metarhizium. It could also be used for broad scale prevention control in outbreak areas. Locust plagues occur after successive seasons of good rainfall in dryland areas stimulate good grass growth and allow the insects to complete three to four generations of their life cycle in a year. A large swarm of adult locusts can consume several tons of plant material every day, quickly devastating crops or pastures in their path.
Numbers only decline to background levels when there is a prolonged dry period again.
Fungal spores of the naturally occurring Metarhizium anisopliae var. According to the Australian Plague Locust Commission, the fungus only attacks locusts and grasshoppers, and is harmless to all other kinds of organisms. This contrasts with other locust control chemicals, mainly an organophosphorous insecticide, fenitrothion. In New South Wales, cattle farmers have been warned to withhold their animals from slaughter for 14 days after spraying fenitrothion to avoid the presence of chemical residues in the meat. Locust plagues have been threatening crops in several Australian states for the past six months.