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28 June 2014

Locust Swarm and Digger Wasps at Khamis Mushait - Report by Farah Imran Shams

On 26 June 2014 Farah Imran Shams had the chance to witness a locust swarm and sent me the following details “This is the first time I have seen one in the 8 years that I have been living here. It was not a very large swarm, but it stayed in my compound for half an hour, more than enough time for me to photograph some of this phenomenon. This incident happened at around 11 am in the city of Khamis Mushait. The pictures were taken in a housing compound called ISKAN II, which is a compound for military hospital doctors. The locust swarm was followed by an army of large digger wasps, a kind that I have not seen before. They were hunting the locusts by the hundreds and burying them in quickly dug nests in the sand. Three hours later, all the wasps had left as well, leaving dozens of holes in the kids play area. It was a very interesting and unique phenomenon, and my boys loved it”. Farah sent me a number of photographs of the event that I have reproduced below with kind permission. I have not seen anything like this in the time I have lived in Saudi Arabia and it certainly looks like an even to behold if I ever do get the chance.