An irresistible scent makes locusts swarm, study finds:
On its own, a locust is fairly harmless. But so-called solitary locusts can undergo a metamorphosis, changing colour and joining together with millions of others in catastrophic clouds that strip fields.
So what prompts locusts to transform from solitary to "gregarious"?
A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature reveals the secret lies in a pheromone.
Almost like an irresistible perfume, the chemical compound is emitted by locusts when they find themselves in proximity to just a few others of their kind.
The chemical attracts other locusts, who join the group and also begin emitting the scent, creating a feedback loop that results in enormous swarms.
The discovery offers several tantalizing possibilities, including genetically engineering locusts without the receptors that detect the swarming pheromone, or weaponising the pheromone to attract and trap the insects.
[...] It focused on the migratory locust, the most widely distributed species of the insect, and examined several compounds produced by the bug.
It found that one in particular—4-vinylanisole, or 4VA—appeared to attract locusts when emitted, and that the more locusts flocked together, the more 4VA they emitted.
Journal Reference:
Xiaojiao Guo, Qiaoqiao Yu, Dafeng Chen, et al. 4-Vinylanisole is an aggregation pheromone in locusts [$], Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2610-4)
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 14 2020, @12:53AM (3 children)
How do you turn off the swarming behavior of cockroaches swarming around the orange cockroach in the white house ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 14 2020, @01:04AM (1 child)
Cockroach sex pheremone?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 14 2020, @01:21AM
Nahhh, you gotta beat their little meaties.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday August 14 2020, @01:31AM
Dammit Jim, I'm an entomologist, not a miracle worker.