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
http://www.hearthstonelegacy.com/when-the-skies-turned-to-black-the_locust-plague-of-1875.htm

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

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.