Texas A&M is part of a multi-university collaboration to study locust swarms and how to limit the destruction they leave behind.
Locusts have a reputation of biblical proportions. Certain species of grasshoppers that are typically solitary and harmless can suddenly swarm and consume entire crops, including plants that support livestock. Large swarms can destroy livelihoods for farmers and entire communities’ food supply.
That is why researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife, Baylor College of Medicine, Arizona State University, Washington University in St. Louis and University of California, Davis, have created the Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute (BPRI).
The institute will work to understand the mechanisms behind locust swarms and migration, and use this knowledge to develop effective methods to limit the destruction the swarms can leave behind.
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