Researchers: Michael Anstey, Spence Behmer, Karine Berthier Marie-Pierre Chapuis
Fiona Clissold, Darron Cullen, Gabriel Miller, Steve Rogers, Steve Simpson
Greg Sword and Donya Tohidi-Esfahani

Desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) change from the cryptic solitarious to the swarming gregarious phase in response to population density. Our programme of research investigates the neurological, physiological and ecological mechanisms involved in behavioural phase change. We contend that elucidating the behavioural processes involved in phase change provides:

a) the best route to understanding underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms, and

b) is the key to understanding the interactions between individual locusts and their environment that lead to population-level phenomena such as swarming. A somewhat outdated overview of the research programme may be found in the link “One of the Crowd”.

 
 

Key Publications:

Pener, M.P. and Simpson, S.J. (2008). Locust Phase polyphenism: an update. Advances in Insect Physiology 35 (in press, May 2008).

Bazazi, S., Buhl, J., Hale, J.J., Anstey, M.L., Sword, G.A., Simpson, S.J. and Couzin, I.D. (2008). Collective motion and cannibalism in locust migratory bands. Current Biology 18, 1-5.

Simpson, S.J. and Sword, G.A. (2008). Locusts. Current Biology 18, R364-366.

Miller, G.A., Islam, M.S., Claridge, D.W., Dodgson, T. and Simpson, S.J. (2008). Swarm formation in the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria): isolation and NMR analysis of the primary maternal gregarizing agent. Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 370-376.

Rogers, S.M., Matheson, T., Sasaki, K., Kendrick, K., Simpson, S.J., and Burrows, M. (2004) Substantial changes in central nervous neurotransmitters and neuromodulators accompany phase change in the locust. Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3603-3617.

Rogers, S.M, Matheson, T., Despland, E., Dodgson, T., Burrows, M. and Simpson, S.J. (2003) Mechanosensory-induced behavioural gregarization in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 3991-4002.

Wilson, K., Thomas, M.B., Blanford, S., Doggett, M., Simpson, S.J. and Moore, S.L. (2002) Coping with crowds: density-dependent disease resistance in desert locusts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,USA 99, 5471-5475.

Simpson, S.J., Despland, E., Haegele, B.F. and Dodgson, T. (2001) Gregarious behaviour in desert locusts is evoked by touching their back legs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 98, 3895-3897.

Collett, M., Despland, E., Simpson, S.J. and Krakauer, D.C. (1998) The spatial scales of locust gregarisation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 95, 13052-13055.