NEWS
ging from absent (0), present (1), moderate (2), to abundant
icipal districts with swarms; b) 1910–1988, costs of insecticide
rol measures. Source:ARC
ds of brown locust swarms and hopper bands (n=469,900) in
tation types and out of the Karoo (“Out”) indicate an anion
of outbreaks. Source of map and codes for vegetation
summer rainfall, a
ntermittent rainfalls
h outbreaks can exfrica
and beyond.
le to predict what
reaks of brown lod
where these will
ears with and withlate
with subconties.
pelling for SAEON
ntial indicator value
s and because lol
data loggers.
art eggs” into egg
previous weather
events over months to years. They remember
sequences of stimulatory and
inhibitory events of soil moisture and
temperature conditions until they match
“Open Sesame”.
Currently, I am sitting in my office at
home in Covid-19 lockdown. The world
is experiencing the enormous costs of
controlling the outbreak of the Coronavirus
and realising that prior research
could have avoided this outbreak at a
fraction of the costs and risks.
The same goes for locusts. A paradigm
shift is called for to manage potential
problems without first letting them become
actual problems, to brake outbreaks
before they break us.
18