Australians are bracing for the worst as heavy rains end a drought, but provide ideal breeding conditions for swarms of locusts that first appeared in remote parts of Queensland, but are now spreading to New South Wales. “We were just staggering out of the drought, we are incredibly frustrated,” said farmer Bev Dennis, based 550 km (340 miles) west of Sydney. “A thick haze of them came through over the weekend and chomped their way through our oats crop overnight,” she added. The oats were intended for her lambs, which have had little grass to eat due to the drought. Ironically, the heavy rains also rendered useless the insecticide sprayed to control the bugs. New South Wales farmer Joe Davis said, “In a few days, we will see locusts that will just black the sun out,” he told ABC television. “There won’t be a green thing, they’ll even eat the clothes off the washing line.”

Source: BBC News