A horde of giant, horny preying mantises are about to be unleashed on the world as Sony Pictures acquires the rights to Andrew Smith's young adult novel Grasshopper Jungle.

The book was published last month and is set in the small town of Ealing, Iowa. It centers on friends Austin and Robby, who accidentally set an army of insects on an unsuspecting populace. Here is the book's official synopsis:

In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend Robby have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want to do two things. This is the truth. This is history. It's the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it. You know what I mean.

Funny, intense, complex, and brave, Grasshopper Jungle brilliantly weaves together everything from testicle-dissolving genetically modified corn to the struggles of recession-era, small-town America in this groundbreaking coming-of-age stunner.

The book is being described as Stand By Me meets Mars Attacks.

Scott Rosenberg will adapt the screenplay. The scribe is best known for writing Beautiful Girls, Con Air and Gone in Sixty Seconds. Matthew Tolmach will be producing.

No casting or production details have been revealed.