Studies of Mormon crickets point to fear of cannibalism as a key driving force that makes them keep marching forward when they are in large groups.

That name goes back to the days when the Mormons were establishing farms and ranches to supply their colonies in Utah. The crickets arrived and began devouring their crops.

“The Mormons thought God sent them as a plague of locusts,” [according to Patrick Lorch, an insect behaviorist at Kent State University]. “They had a huge problem, but apparently they repented or stopped whatever they were doing wrong, and God sent seagulls to save them from the crickets. That’s why if you go to the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City you’ll see a monument to the seagull.”

With many millions still marching across Nevada and coming into Utah, looks like it’s time for Mormons to begin repenting once again. Repent of what? Plenty of things, I suppose. In a time like this, why hold back?