Locusts, said to be ordinary green scattered locusts, under the action of the aggregates secreted by locusts, will attract each other and become social locusts.
Although there is no change in the locust gene, the gene expression will change, mainly in the locust body color from green to yellow, and the gene for synthesizing the highly toxic cyanide is activated, making the locust toxic. Birds that eat even a swarm locust will show mild symptoms of poisoning
Locusts can "switch" back and forth between the two ways of life, solitude and socialism. Social locusts release large quantities of the volatile compound phenylacetonitrile, while scattered locusts hardly synthesize phenylacetonitrile, and social locusts immediately convert phenylacetonitrile into the highly toxic compound hydrocyanic acid when attacked.
When locusts gather in large numbers, their natural enemies do not like to eat locusts, and this is the reason. At this time, not only can animals not eat, but also people cannot eat.