© 2024 Kansas Public Radio

91.5 FM | KANU | Lawrence, Topeka, Kansas City
96.1 FM | K241AR | Lawrence (KPR2)
89.7 FM | KANH | Emporia
99.5 FM | K258BT | Manhattan
97.9 FM | K250AY | Manhattan (KPR2)
91.3 FM | KANV | Junction City, Olsburg
89.9 FM | K210CR | Atchison
90.3 FM | KANQ | Chanute

See the Coverage Map for more details

FCC On-line Public Inspection Files Sites:
KANU, KANH, KANV, KANQ

Questions about KPR's Public Inspection Files?
Contact General Manager Feloniz Lovato-Winston at fwinston@ku.edu
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

What Happened to the Great Grasshopper Plague?

By John Richard Schrock
Published October 1, 2015 at 10:15 PM CDT
Locusts in the sky in 1898. (Background photo courtesy of Library of Congress)
Locusts in the sky in 1898. (Background photo courtesy of Library of Congress)

Late summer is the time when grasshoppers fly. In a short trip down a Kansas country road, they can quickly coat the grill of your car. But as Commentator John Richard Schrock tells us, it's nothing compared to the grasshopper invasion Kansas farmers faced 140 years ago.

Commentator John "Richard" Schrock is the director of biology education at Emporia State University. The book he mentioned is called: Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect That Shaped the American Frontier.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Production assistance for this commentary was provided by KPR News Intern Austin Fitts, a graduate of the University of Kansas.
Tags
Commentaries insectinfestationOld WestgrasshopperplagueBiblical plagueLaura Ingalls Wilder
John Richard Schrock
Schrock attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where tuition was $8 a semester hour in 1964, completing a bachelor's degree in biology teaching and a master's in science education. He began teaching in Kentucky before he graduated from I.S.U., and completed his degrees during summers. Schrock taught five years in Alexandria, Kentucky middle and high schools and two years at the I.S.U. Laboratory School before going overseas to teach at Hong Kong International School for three years. Schrock completed his Ph.D. in entomology working on insect ecology and systematics at the University of Kansas and, upon graduation, worked for the Association of Systematics Collections for three years. When the A.S.C. moved to Washington, DC, Schrock took the position at Emporia State University, directing biology teacher training. He was on the state biology committee and closely involved in the Kansas evolution debates of 1999. He writes a weekly Kansas newspaper column on education, produces public radio commentaries, and appears monthly on Kansas television.
See stories by John Richard Schrock