QUEENSLAND Government officers have sprayed a 5km-wide locust swarm so thick it looked like a dust storm.
Biosecurity Queensland principal officer Graham Hardwick said the swarm would have held millions of spur-throated locusts, the Courier Mail reports.
"You can see it rolling towards you," he said yesterday.
"It's just like the cloud you get from a road train rolling down a dusty road. It's anybody's guess how many were in it but it was about 1km deep."
Mr Hardwick said the aerial spraying was conducted around Twin Hills, north of Clermont.
The swarms were sprayed on Friday and flight data would be checked today to see how successful the operation had been and if more locusts were nearby.
Swarms of about 1sq km also had been recorded near Cunnamulla, Blackall and Barcaldine.
Biosecurity Queensland officer Duncan Swan said the swarm north of Clermont was one of the largest recorded since two of a similar size west of Blackall about two months ago.
"There's probably a few more swarms out there so we're going out Tuesday to try to find them," he said.
The Australian Plague Locust Commission expects swarms to continue into November and December, with the Barcaldine-Blackall and Tambo-Charleville areas hardest hit. Swarms also have been recorded in the Thargomindah-Cunnamulla and Bollon areas.
A total of 109 swarms covering more than 26,000 ha were sprayed from June to August.
There also were reports of swarms in the Hughenden, Winton, Richmond and Julia Creek areas in the northwest as well as in the Thargomindah-Cunnamulla area of the Bulloo and Paroo shires.
The commission also expects swarms in the Gulf of Carpentaria and in Murweh, Balonne and Paroo shires in south and central Queensland.
Mr Hardwick said the chemical killed any insect in its path so spraying was limited to areas where it was most effective.
A 14-day withholding period was in force for stock in sprayed paddocks.
Locust breeding usually starts in November and December in Queensland but could occur earlier if rain continues.
Read more on the Courier Mail.
