By Tabitha Morgan BBC News, Nicosia

The locusts have already wrought damage in Lebanon

Officials believed they had contained the swarm, which first arrived on the island on Sunday.

But now a second wave is advancing along the western coast of the island.

Local farmers were taken aback to see the black clouds of locusts, stretching to a kilometre in length, swarming across their fields.

This is the first such infestation in living memory.

The insects, which are a pinkish red colour with black spots on their wings, are thought to have been attracted to Cyprus from west Africa by a period of unusually warm weather.

Farmers originally feared the locusts would consume this season's melon and banana crops.

In the event they ignored local fruit, preferring to concentrate instead on Cyprus' potatoes.

Scientists said the insects were exhausted from their journey and were easily controlled by pesticides.

Then, just as Agriculture Ministry officials believed they had contained the infestation, a fresh swarm arrived on Tuesday.

In the early parts of the 20th Century, locusts were a perennial blight on Cypriot agriculture.