But a response to the emergence of army worms is difficult, because it comes during the planting period when food resources have dwindled. An invasion of locusts is known among the Langi as certain tragedy. When the locust invasion begins, the cloud of locusts is so thick that it blocks the sun. Locusts indicate certain famine, as the insects destroy not only the crops but every single plant they encounter on the land. Thus other sources of food, like livestock, are affected.
Locusts also cover a far larger area than army worms.
The normal response to such an event is for people to turn on the locusts as a source of food as well as economizing other food resources. But locusts as a food resource may not last long, while the famine they cause lasts much longer. Fortunately, a locust invasion is a rare phenomenon among the Langi. People in Lango remember 1949 as the year when the last serious invasion occurred. Another minor invasion of locusts occurred during the mid-1960s.