Scientists have discovered a pheromone that locusts emit so as not to be devoured by their congeners. Find could be used in the future to tame these voracious beasts.
Previous research showed that these swarms were partly governed by the threat of cannibalism. Methods to control their population could use technology that increases competition between them, warns Bill Hansson, lead author of the study, published in the journal Science. The discovery shed light on the "complicated balance" between the mechanisms that drive migratory locUSTs to cluster together, or compete.