So my plague reading list includes this book, by @J_A_Lockwood, on the locust invasion in the U.S. in 1875. It’s really good. And believe it or not, I got this book way before COVID, after reading Prairie Fires (biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder) 1/

I was reading about the 1875 locusts, thinking, “How could the U.S. have experienced the largest plague of locusts in human history and I have never heard about this?!?” So I did the Google, and found this https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😱" title="Face screaming in fear" aria-label="Emoji: Face screaming in fear">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😱" title="Face screaming in fear" aria-label="Emoji: Face screaming in fear">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😱" title="Face screaming in fear" aria-label="Emoji: Face screaming in fear">
http://www.hearthstonelegacy.com/when-the-skies-turned-to-black-the_locust-plague-of-1875.htm">https://www.hearthstonelegacy.com/when-the-...

To give you an idea of the magnitude of this swarm of locusts, it was estimated at the time to measure 1,800 miles in length, 110 miles wide, and a quarter to half mile deep. That’s equal to the combined areas of CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VT. Like, OF BUGS https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐛" title="Bug" aria-label="Emoji: Bug">

Anyway, the Rocky Mountain locust mysteriously disappeared in the early 20th century. So the book tries to solve this mystery, but also gives first-hand accounts of the devastation and really brings home the suffering it caused. Never knew I could get so into a bug book!

Oh and by the way I have picked up an important fact in my reading:

CICADAS ARE NOT LOCUSTS!!!

Completely different insect order, people (Homoptera vs. Orthoptera).

I feel that reading this book now qualifies me to police Twitter on this point. Thank you.