National Geographic Kids - UK (2022-03)

Lake

Victoria

Kampala

Masaka

HarugongoHarugongo

UGANDA

The wind rattles the four-by-eight-foot metal

sheets that form the slanted walls of the giant

insect trap. A diesel generator roars a few yards

away, powering a 400-watt bulb at its center. The

light is blinding to human eyes, but it’s a magnet

for Ruspolia differens. In Uganda they’re com-

monly referred to as “grasshoppers” or nsenene

(en-SAY-nay-nay), but they’re actually cone-

headed bush crickets.

At the bottom of the metal sheets, dozens

of drums stand empty. Soon, hopes Kiggundu

Islam, chairman of the local bush cricket trap-

pers association, they’ll be filled with millions

of the nearly three-inch-long insects.

The “visitors,” as they’re called locally, come

together to mate and feed in huge swarms after

Muntadhar Nasif holds

bush crickets he caught

while helping a friend

with his trap. He used

to catch them as a

child, but today Nasif

makes a stable income

as a tour guide. He says

it’s too risky to get in

the nsenene trade, as

swarms are smaller and

less reliable than they

once were.

It’s a cold night,

and strong winds

are blowing

atop a hill in

southwest Uganda.

126 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NGM MAPS