From the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization:
Desert Locust situation update 5 June 2019
Spring-bred locust infestations threaten summer areasIntensive ground and aerial control operations continued during May against widespread infestations of hopper and adult groups, bands and swarms in Saudi Arabia and Iran that developed from two generations of unprecedented spring breeding. Swarms moved from eastern Yemen into the central highlands and a few continued into southern Saudi Arabia. A few swarms moved to southern Jordan during a brief period of unusual southerly winds while hopper bands and immature adult groups were present along the Kuwait / Saudi Arabia border. Winter-bred immature adult groups persisted on the northern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia and the coast in southeast Egypt. At the end of May, adult groups appeared in the interior along both sides of the Egypt/Sudan border.
While the control operations have reduced locust infestations in the spring breeding areas, populations that are not detected or cannot be treated will form groups and small swarms that will move to summer breeding areas in the interior of Sudan and Yemen, and along the Indo-Pakistan border during June. As rains have occurred some six weeks earlier than normal in these areas, breeding could commence by the end of this month. Depending on the summer rains, two generations of breeding may be possible this year, causing a further increase in locust numbers by October.
Very little breeding occurred in Northwest Africa this spring so locust numbers are currently very low and will remain so. Summer breeding may start earlier than normal this year in Niger and Chad because of the May rains.
All efforts should be undertaken to control the current situation and be prepared for the summer.
If interested here is the chronology of this season:
Locust Watch developments, 2018-2019 season:
October 14, 2018
"Saudi Arabia—Oh Just ^#@&*%^ Great: Now There's A Cyclone Bearing Down That's Going To Jumpstart The Locusts"
December 6, 2018
In Some Positive News, The Desert Locust Situation Remains Calm
January 13
Locust Watch: Situation Deteriorating Rapidly
February 4
Locust Watch Situation Update: "A Desert Locust outbreak is in progress on the Red Sea coastal plains..."
April 27
Locust Watch: Iran Faces Worst Outbreak In 40 Years
And from AFP via Yahoo, the headline story, June 10:
Locust swarm decimates crops in Sardinia
Rome (AFP) - Millions of locusts have devastated at least 2,000 hectares of crops in Sardinia, Italian farmers union Coldiretti said Monday, with experts calling the invasion the worst in six decades.
The most affected areas are Nuoro, Ottana and Orani in the middle of the Mediterranean island, with many areas blanketed by the insects, Coldiretti said in a statement.The locust invasion is the worst in the area in 60 years, local entomologist Ignazio Floris told La Stampa daily.The insect explosion is linked to a sharp rise in temperatures after a relatively cold May, with many of the young insects emerging from uncultivated land....MORE
