| Abstract |
Locusts are a worldwide threat to agriculture. These insects have a number of physiological, anatomical, behavioral, and ecological features that differentiate them from grasshoppers, particularly the capacity to undergo a “phase transformation” from a solitary form into a gregarious form that is associated with the massive swarms that threaten more than 10% of the human population. The management of locust species with episodic population dynamics involves two, distinct strategies: preventive and reactive. Chronic, localized curtailment of incipient outbreaks is used to prevent large-scale population increases, while acute, large-scale treatments of hopper bands and adult swarms are used to suppress upsurges and plagues. Given the reproductive capacity and mobility of these insects, international cooperation is crucial to avoiding humanitarian crises. Although locust control can be viewed as a form of natural hazard mitigation, locust plagues are not like floods, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes, or other abiotic phenomena. Locusts present several unique features that must be considered in developing viable policies and practices. These qualities include ecological dynamics, geographic scale, geopolitical complexity, and socioeconomic impacts. While there have been significant advances in the technologies available for locust management, much less progress has been made with respect to developing policies based on rigorous application of social science and philosophy. These fields of inquiry are increasingly understood to be essential if we are to achieve economically viable, environmentally responsible, morally defensible, and culturally respectful locust management strategies. |
