Locusta Swarm_Spurgin

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Greg Sword, research in the Molecular Ecology Lab ranges from molecular genetics and behaviour to landscape scale ecology and phylogenetics. We utilise a variety of ecological, behavioral, and molecular techniques to examine processes operating across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Our work addresses a variety of major topics in ecology and evolution including migration, collective movement, phenotypic plasticity, the evolution of warning coloration (aposematism) and plant-herbivore interactions.

Please see the Research and Publications pages for more detailed information about the lab's activities.


Recent Highlights

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A recent locust paper in Science by our friends and collaborators Anstey et al. has been getting tons of press - including this hilarious send up about locusts going mental. Also be sure to check out Steve Rogers doing a TV interview.








See the archived
news items.



Here's a Mormon cricket migratory band in action.
It doesn't get much cooler than this:






***Thanks to Peter Spurgin of the APLC for the use of his Locusta migratoria swarm photo.