Why in the News?
A recent study by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior suggests that locusts do not behave like gas particles but instead make cognitive decisions based on their perception of nearby motion.
About Locust Swarms
- Locusts are large grasshoppers capable of forming massive swarms, consuming up to their body weight in food daily, and traveling 150 km/day with favourable winds.
- They are highly destructive, stripping crops and threatening food security. A single swarm can consume food equivalent to the daily needs of 35,000 people.
- In India, Locust Control and Research (LC&R) oversees locust management.
- The Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), established in 1939, monitors and controls locust activity in states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana.
- The 2019-2022 desert locust outbreak was one of the worst in decades, devastating India, Pakistan, and East Africa, destroying over 200,000 hectares of crops.
- Despite existing control measures, locust outbreaks remain difficult to manage due to their rapid breeding capabilities.
Key Highlights of New Research:
- Traditional models assumed locusts moved collectively by aligning with neighbours.
- However Max Planck Institute reveals that locusts make cognitive decisions based on visual cues.
- The study introduced a new mathematical model using neural ring attractor networks, showing that locusts decide on movement based on multiple visual cues, leading to coordinated swarms through decentralised decision-making.
- This understanding provides a more accurate model for predicting locust swarm behaviour, crucial for early intervention.
| [UPSC 2023] Which of the following organisms perform waggle dance for others of their kin to indicate the direction and the distance to a source of their food?
Options: (a) Butterflies (b) Dragonflies (c) Honeybees* (d) Wasps |
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