Locusts are very easy to breed, even with little space, time or money. This makes them ideal pets to keep in schools, where they can be studied easily and within a relatively short space of time.

They require tall cages and a diet of fresh green stuff, grass being the best. Locusts are more cold sensitive than crickets and many commercial locust cages have a fitting for a small light bulb to maintain a temperature of around 77F.

Females need a deep substrate for egg laying, a glass jar filled with damp sand is perfect and you should place a few of these jars in the cage once the locusts have reached maturity.

The eggs are laid towards the bottom of the jar and are connected to the surface with a column of foam, which allows the locust hoppers to eat their way to the surface when they hatch.

The jars should be changed every day or two and cover any jars containing eggs with a ventilated lid before storing in a warm place. The eggs will hatch after 2-4 weeks and then you should transfer the hoppers to a clean cage.