# Locust Colouration



## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

I had recentley been told by several people that Yellow Adults are male and the more pinkish ones are female. Either this isnt true or I have gay locusts :whistling2:

Can someone please tell me how to determine the sex please?


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## scorpion0151 (May 20, 2009)

I always thought the pinkish ones had not long shed :/ I've not really paid that much attention to them tho really. I buy a bag of 50 and keep them in a big box, gut load them and feed them to my dragons every other day.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

scorpion0151 said:


> I always thought the pinkish ones had not long shed :/ I've not really paid that much attention to them tho really. I buy a bag of 50 and keep them in a big box, gut load them and feed them to my dragons every other day.


Im unsure of that as im pretty sure a yellow one shed straight out. I may be wrong but pretty sure


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## scorpion0151 (May 20, 2009)

I'll have to keep an eye on them know, you've sparked my curiosity


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

Assuming you are talking anout desert locusts, yes both sexes start pink in the adult stage. Both go yellow, the males are smaller and a more intense yellow colour, while the females are often a brownish yellow.


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## LFBP-NEIL (Apr 23, 2005)

try rearing them at different temperatures and make a note of the colour differences


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

Yes hotter = more yellow & less black in the hoppers. But how are the adults affected ?


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

Blaptica said:


> Yes hotter = more yellow & less black in the hoppers. But how are the adults affected ?


That makes sense actually. Ive changed the temps as I was told they were to low at the 85 I was trying to breed them at. Im at 105 now and there Shedding yellower now they were always pin before


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## Jem (Mar 12, 2009)

Apparently and dont quote me on this as i heard it from someone else, but the yellow and black colouration occurs when locusts are kept together, or in the wild when they swarm. 
If a locust is kept alone all its life it will stay green, if you start stroking the lone locust a few times a day it will turn black and yellow if you dont it will remain green!
Dont know how relevant this is to you post Steve but thought it was intresting!


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## Chaika (Jun 5, 2009)

You can easily determine the sex by size (females are larger) and also by looking at the end of the abdomen:












Jem said:


> Apparently and dont quote me on this as i heard it from someone else, but the yellow and black colouration occurs when locusts are kept together, or in the wild when they swarm.
> If a locust is kept alone all its life it will stay green, if you start stroking the lone locust a few times a day it will turn black and yellow if you dont it will remain green!
> Dont know how relevant this is to you post Steve but thought it was intresting!


This is completely true!  And their behaviour is different too! The yellow ones tend to swarm while the green really avoid each other.

But it's a little harder to make a green locust than what you said, you actually need to keep them in isolation for over two generations before green baby locusts are produced. So if you start with a yellow and black female and male (kept separately apart from when its breeding time) the female's eggs will then hatch into yellow and black nymphs. You will need to keep these nymphs separately to adulthood and then breed a male and female from that stock and then the female's eggs will hatch into green nymphs, which you will have to keep in isolation if you want them to stay green!!  

It's a really interesting example of phenotypic plasticity, the locusts aren't mutants it's just that different genes are activated in different circumstances. One of my former supervisors studies the mechanism by which they change from the green to the yellow/black morph so I got to hear all about it :lol2:.


PS - here's areally good link with lots of information on the colour change and general biology/lifecycle of the desert locust.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

Chaika said:


> You can easily determine the sex by size (females are larger) and also by looking at the end of the abdomen:
> image
> 
> 
> ...


Wow you learn something new everyday. Thanks


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## scorpion0151 (May 20, 2009)

I've just got this locust in a bag of 50. It was the only one like it all the others were normal.

































Looks like some sort of melanistc, has anyone else seen one like it?


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