LAist: Los Angeles Attacked by Giant Locusts!!!

Elise Thompson

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:12:23 -0800

So I have 5 more months of this? Well, that explains the little teensy crown on its head.

Sotto Voce Nyx

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:07:01 -0800

hmmm, I think I read something about that guy and his mates once....I must have that book some where around here. Yes, Even Me! Ah, here it is. "The Sounding of the Fifth Trumpet Revelation 8:13-9:12 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice" "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels. The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and the sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God upon their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days, men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lion's teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon. The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come." Well, the world is coming to an end after all!

Zach Behrens

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:37:17 -0800

don't worry Elise, the cicadas only come like that every 17 years.

Elise Thompson

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:12:52 -0800

Update: I spoke to a gardener friend and he insists grasshoppers can get that big, which was a surprise to me. I would feel a litle chagrined to be that afraid of a grasshopper. Then I read Wiki on grasshoppers a little closer: "Species that change colour and behaviour at high population densities are called locusts." Locusts ARE grasshoppers! Soylent Green is PEOPLE! Locusts sounds way scarier. I'm going to stay with that. I think the guy in the photo is raising an arm to attack. Bah! Photographers! Damned paparazzi! Zach: Your story is going to give me nightmares.

WonderK

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:06:40 -0800

I've seen it too, it was definitely not a potato bug and definitely not a cicada (I run screaming from cicadas....disgusting, worthless creatures). It looked like a giant grasshopper so I guess that's why I wasn't too worried. Maybe I should be?

Tom Andrews

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:14:29 -0800

I see that too saltmine. Elise, I hope you don't have to hide in the bathroom again! Great article! Shouldn't this be on Digg? The title of the article screams click here!

saltmine

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:03:11 -0800

Looks to me like the guy in the pic is turning and waving.

Zach Behrens

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:47:27 -0800

Ah, I remember the summer of Cicadas when I was a kid outside of Chicago. Cicadas everywhere you stepped. crunch, crunch, crunch. It sounded like there were waves outside, but it wasn't water, it was buzzin'.

Elise Thompson

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:01:56 -0800

Yeah, Tim, you are making squishing a form of natural selection, thus breeding SUPERgrasshoppers!!!! Schimonie, did it look like this? (not for the faint of heart) http://www.flickr.com/photos/7787191@N04/2503601500/ Ross: GROAN

Tim buchheim

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:48:13 -0800

huh. and here I was thinking that this year we had exceptionally few grasshoppers. I live in Temple City (between Pasadena & Arcadia) and we normally have tons of grasshoppers all summer. A real pain. But this year we've had a lot less ... we only have to squish a few each week (as opposed to a few each day in other years) I don't know whether it's a result of our aggressive attempts to squash them in the last two years, or whether it's this year's weird weather, or what.

jrb

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:46:27 -0800

"Ewww! It's like the plagues from Passover come to life." It's Gawd smitin' us fer lettin' them gay folks be a-marryin'!

Elise Thompson

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:52:43 -0800

Oh just by the description I know she means a potato bug. the first time I found one was in the washing machine and I thought it was made out of rubber. I screamed and my mom thought I was being melodramatic. Then she saw it and screamed. Then my dad was like, "Oh Christ, women!" But when he saw it he shouted, "What in the holy name of God IS that?????"

Ross A. Lincoln

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:40:04 -0800

Half Bee/Half Ant?!? I think I've found out what it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:First_Episode_Aunt_Bee_10101.JPG

Ross A. Lincoln

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:38:24 -0800

My Friend E. found one in her house recently - apparently it was just huge and omninous, almost as though it'd been practicing being mean. Just kind of hanging out, loitering if you will, on her living room wall, glaring at her. Let's hope they're not the result of an insane breeding experiment between north american grasshoppers and African grasshoppers.

Schimonie

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:34:16 -0800

Eek, this reminds me of the giant bug my boyfriend's roommate found in his laundry basket the other day, in Santa Monica. It was like half bee, half ant and probably 3 inches long.

Julie Wolfson

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:29:57 -0800

Ewww! It's like the plagues from Passover come to life. So gross!

peteroriondavis

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:26:55 -0800

I'm in Highland Park and haven't seen any of these there yet (though apparently we have a raccoon and possum infestation), but I got attacked by two of these suckers at Lake Balboa Park the other day! Both dive-bombed onto my jeans and wouldn't shake off - it took a good smack to detach them.

christina

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:47:51 -0800

i'm in burbank too and just saw a somewhat flattened one of these on the sidewalk out in front of my place a couple of days ago. i would not have been able to handle seeing one INSIDE though. *shudder*

Elise Thompson

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:39:03 -0800

How big were yours? If you saved them, the receptionist at UC Riverside really wants them!

airickoo

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:32:44 -0800

I thought I was crazy the other day when I saw one of these too! Except, the locust was hanging out outside my window screen. I saw it out of the corner of my eye when I woke up and took a second look once I realized how big this thing was..

Lala25

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:29:48 -0800

I found one of these in my back yard, I'm in Highland Park. It was dead when I found it. Neat looking creature.