TY - JOUR AU - Díaz Bolaños, Ronald Eduardo AU - Alfaro Martínez, Eric J. AU - Leitón Gutiérrez, Leninger PY - 2019/02/26 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The locust Schistocerca sp. (Orthoptera: Acridae) plague and its relationship with the Mega Niño of 1877-1878 in Costa Rica JF - UNED Research Journal JA - URJ VL - 11 IS - 2 SE - Articles DO - 10.22458/urj.v11i2.2200 UR - https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/2200 SP - 54-64 AB - <p><strong>Introduction: </strong>locust plagues have been recorded for thousands of years and were feared by many societies. <strong>Objective:</strong> to assess if the locusts that affected Costa Rica in the 19th century were related with the Mega-Niño of 1877-1878. <strong>Methods:</strong> we checked files in the Costa Rican Congress, Governance, Municipalities and Police Force. <strong>Results:</strong> clouds of locusts were reported from Guanacaste in June 1876 and in the following months the reports spread to a large part of the country, with a lesser extent in Limón. The plague affected mainly the Central American Dry Corridor (CADC) while the Mega-Niño was developing. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> meteorological data support the hypothesis that conditions generated by the Mega-Niño favored the propagation of locusts that significant damaged agriculture. The pest was combated by the army and, by the church, with prayers, until it moved to Colombia.</p> ER -