The Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute at Texas A&M is researching an insect that has plagued humans for thousands of years – locusts.
The Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute at Texas A&M is researching an insect that has plagued humans for thousands of years – locusts.
For the first time, researchers across Texas A&M AgriLife can now import and study many major global pests by utilizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved insect quarantine facility maintained by the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Dr. Hojun Song, a professor in the Department of Entomology and one of the lead researchers at the institute, said locust outbreaks impact the livelihoods of one in 10 people on the planet.
The most recent locust outbreak occurred from 2019-2022 and caused more than $1.3 billion in crop damage in 23 countries across eastern Africa, the Middle East and Asia, from Ethiopia to Nepal.
Read more at Texas A&M University
Image: Dr. Hojun Song working in the locusts lab on June 28, 2022 in College Station, Texas. (Credit: Sam Craft/Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications)
