Protein associated with learning implicated in causing grasshoppers to swarm
New research has found that a protein associated with learning and memory plays an integral role in changing the behaviour of locusts from that of harmless grasshoppers into swarming pests.
View ArticleCostly copulation - research reveals the price of having sex
(PhysOrg.com) -- A recent study by Darrell Kemp, of Macquarie University, looking at the mating behaviour of the Australian plague locust has found that reproducing has a particularly high cost....
View ArticleFruit flies watch the sky to stay on course
Insects, equipped with complex compound eyes, can maintain a constant heading in their travels, some of them for thousands of miles. New research demonstrates that fruit flies keep their bearings by...
View ArticleOvergrazed grasslands tied to locust outbreaks
While residents of the United States and much of Europe think of locust plagues as biblical references, locust swarms still have devastating effects on agriculture today, especially in developing...
View ArticleA mating dance with Popeye arms
A research team at Bielefeld University headed by the evolutionary biologist Dr. Holger Schielzeth is now studying how far a comparable mechanism is involved in mate choice among locusts. The male...
View ArticleUN agency warns of growing locust threat in Mali
The UN food agency on Tuesday warned the unrest in northern Mali means that efforts to contain the threat of desert locusts are being hampered and appealed for $10 million (8.1 million euros) in aid.
View ArticleFrom solo to sociable—how locusts try to avoid cannibalism
(Phys.org)—When people think of locusts they are likely to picture the swarms which affect the lives of one in ten people in the world through their harmful impact on agriculture.
View ArticleUN warns northwest Africa over desert locust swarms
The UN food agency warned Tuesday that desert locust swarms are likely to head to northwest Africa in the coming weeks, and urged teams armed with pesticides to protect crops from the pests.
View ArticleMadagascar needs $41mln to fight plague of locusts
Madagascar needs over $41 million (32 million euros) to battle a locust plague as swarms of insects blot out the sky in the south of the island nation, the Food and Agricultural Organization said Tuesday.
View ArticleDiscovering one reason why swarming evolved offers tantalizing clues on how...
Many animals – from locusts to fish – live in groups and swarm, but scientists aren't sure why or how this behavior evolved. Now a multidisciplinary team of Michigan State University scientists has...
View ArticleLocust plague could cause food crisis in Madagascar, UN says
Madagascar is at risk of being overrun by a locust plague likely to ravage at least two-thirds of the country and spark a serious food crisis, the UN's food agency said on Wednesday.
View ArticleControlling destructive locusts by manipulating their genetics
(Phys.org) —In 1921, a Russian entomologist named Boris Uvarov made a curious discovery. He noticed that a single species of grasshopper could transform its appearance and behavior, depending on its...
View ArticleInsect-inspired super rubber moves toward practical uses in medicine
The remarkable, rubber-like protein that enables dragonflies, grasshoppers and other insects to flap their wings, jump and chirp has major potential uses in medicine, scientists conclude in an article...
View ArticleLocust research shows how the company you keep shapes what you learn
(Phys.org) —A team of scientists has shown how the environment shapes learning and memory by training locusts like Pavlov's dog to associate different smells with reward or punishment.
View ArticleAnd that is how the desert locust lost its memory
The desert locust (a type of grasshopper), much like Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde, goes from being an innocuous solitary-living individual to become a voracious gregarious animal that destroys everything on its...
View ArticleTeam uncovers how microsporidian parasites prevent locust swarm behavior
(Phys.org) —A team of researchers in China, with assistance from U.S. entomologist Raymond St. Leger has uncovered the means by which a microbe can reduce swarming tendencies in locusts. In their paper...
View ArticleLocust genome exposes 'hundreds' of pesticide targets
Chinese scientists said Tuesday they had unravelled the genetic code of the locust, laying bare "hundreds" of genes that can be targeted by insecticides.
View ArticleMadagascar unleashes poison to break locust plague
The choppers swoop in, dumping insecticide over a plague-stricken village in Madagascar's stunning central highlands.
View ArticleLocusts harness the sun to get their optimum diet
If you are a locust, the most nutritious plant to eat depends on the ambient temperature. Scientists at the University of Sydney, Australia, have discovered that locusts choose their food and then...
View ArticleEcopesticides uses fungi to stop crop destroying insects
A New Mexico startup company has begun field tests to prove they can kill desert locusts in Africa using a natural bio-pesticide technology developed at the University of New Mexico. The company,...
View ArticleBugs life: The nerve cells that make locusts 'gang up'
A team of biologists has identified a set of nerve cells in desert locusts that bring about 'gang-like' gregarious behaviour when they are forced into a crowd.
View ArticleScientists plan to cut insect pests down to size by turning their own...
Locusts are certainly not among the lazier creatures on earth. They can travel 130km a day in search of food. The insects can strip bare a field of crops in minutes as they move from one feast to the...
View ArticleLocusts provide insight into brain response to stimuli, senses
By training a type of grasshopper to recognize odors, a team of biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis is learning more about the brain and how it processes information from its...
View ArticleInspiration from Mother Nature leads to improved wood
Using the legendary properties of heartwood from the black locust tree as their inspiration, scientists have discovered a way to improve the performance of softwoods widely used in construction. The...
View ArticleResearchers developing sustainable ways to manage locust outbreaks worldwide
Locust swarms may seem like a distant chapter from history, but these devastating insects still present a major threat in today's world. They jeopardize food security throughout the Middle East, Asia,...
View ArticleMauritania 'warns of locust plague'
Mauritania said on Tuesday it had sent exterminators to the north to fight a plague of locusts swarming over the desert which could devastate the west African nation, local media said.
View ArticleAutonomous, swarming UAVs fly into the future
A new era in autonomy and unmanned systems for naval operations is on the horizon, as officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced today recent technology demonstrations of swarming...
View ArticleLocusts interact with several neighbours to swarm together
Swarming locusts interact with at least two of their neighbours when aligning themselves in order to march in the same direction, says new research led by our mathematicians.
View ArticleRediscovering a wasp after 101 years
A species of wasp that is a natural enemy of a wood-boring beetle that kills black locust trees has been rediscovered, more than 100 years after the last wasp of this species was found.
View ArticleExpanded genetic information about the migratory locust
Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have expanded the knowledge of genetic information about the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), an orthopteron responsible for devastating plagues...
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