ALGIERS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Swarms of desert locusts have now made their way further north in Algeria due to hot temperatures and winds, state radio said on Wednesday, and could start threatening the country's crops.
Locusts have already eaten their way through parts of West and Central Africa this year and were again spotted in Algeria's south early this month but did not then pose a threat because of the lack of significant agricultural land in the Sahara.
Now swarms have moved across most of the desert and reached the Ghardaia province some 700 km (450 miles) south of the capital Algiers.
The insects, which can form swarms of tens of millions taking up hundreds of square kilometres, have moved into North Africa after months in the semi-desert Sahel region because vegetation there is drying up.
Algerian authorities say they are prepared for the new invasion and are arming aircraft with pesticide to spray fields.