This long-standing conundrum has been decoded using genetic evidence from more than 20 species of locusts. Thanks to the scientists from the Universities of Toronto, Arizona, Maryland, Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Capable of forming massive swarms that devastate crops, the desert locust is one of the world’s most economically important insects.
It all occurred somewhere between 30, 00,000 and 50, 00,000 years ago. A massive swarm of locusts took off from the west coast of Africa, making an unlikely voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to colonize the New World. An international team of researchers said this. DNA reveals that ancestors of the desert locust flew across the Atlantic and gave rise to a diverse group of New World species.
Via: Science Daily