Locust Outbreaks


Book Description

Here is a comprehensive resource on the devastating effect of locust outbreaks on crop production along with valuable coverage of traditional as well as new and emerging control and mitigation strategies. Begining with an introduction to and history of locust attacks, the volume describes the deleterious effects of locusts on crops and delves into both traditional and state-of-the art control and management technologies to combat locust outbreaks, including such advanced technologies as geographical information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) and methods such as employing entomopathogenic fungi as a pest control measure. The book also evaluates how climate change has exacerbated the damage from locusts and the environmental ramifications. The book considers the scientific aspect of the role of pheromones on the reproduction of locusts and discusses the culture of using locusts as a food source in some countries. Topically, the volume also considers the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on locust outbreaks on the world’s economy. This important and unique volume is a highly valuable resource for those working on meeting the challenges of locust invasions and their terrible consequences on crops, societies, and economies.




New Strategies in Locust Control


Book Description

In the late eighties large-scale control operations were carried out to control a major desert locust upsurge in Africa. For the first time since the banning of organochlorine pesticides these operations relied mainly on non-persistent pesticides such as organophosphates and pyrethroids. The amount of pesticides sprayed and the area covered were probably the highest in the history of locust control and raised criticism with respect to efficacy, economic viability and environmental impact. As a consequence, applied research into the problem was intensified, both at the national and the international level, with the goal of finding new and environmentally sound approaches and solutions to locust and grasshopper control. Emphasis was laid on developing new control agents and techniques.




Locust


Book Description

Throughout the nineteenth century, swarms of locusts regularly swept across the continent, turning noon into dusk, demolishing farm communities, and bringing trains to a halt as the crushed bodies of insects greased the rails. In 1876, the U.S. Congress declared the locust "the single greatest impediment to the settlement of the country." From the Dakotas to Texas, from California to Iowa, the swarms pushed thousands of settlers to the brink of starvation, prompting the federal government to enlist some of the greatest scientific minds of the day and thereby jumpstarting the fledgling science of entomology. Over the next few decades, the Rocky Mountain locust suddenly -- and mysteriously -- vanished. A century later, Jeffrey Lockwood set out to discover why. Unconvinced by the reigning theories, he searched for new evidence in musty books, crumbling maps, and crevassed glaciers, eventually piecing together the elusive answer: A group of early settlers unwittingly destroyed the locust's sanctuaries just as the insect was experiencing a natural population crash. Drawing on historical accounts and modern science, Locust brings to life the cultural, economic, and political forces at work in America in the late-nineteenth century, even as it solves one of the greatest ecological mysteries of our time.




Locust Handbook


Book Description




Ecological Implications of Minilivestock


Book Description

This book provides stimulating and timely suggestions about expanding the world food supply to include a variety of minilivestock. It suggests a wide variety of small animals as nutritious food. These animals include arthropods (insects, earthworms, snails, frogs), and various rodents. The major advantage of minilivestock is that they do not have t




Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters


Book Description

Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters, Second Edition provides an integrated look at major impacts to the Earth's biosphere caused by diseases, algal blooms, insects, animals, species extinction, deforestation, land degradation, and comet and asteroid strikes, with important implications for humans. This second edition from Elsevier's Hazards and Disasters Series incorporates perspectives from the natural and social sciences to offer in-depth coverage of threats from microscopic organisms to celestial objects and their potential impacts. Contributions from expert biological, health, ecological, environmental, wildlife, physical, and health scientists, readers will gain valuable insights on damages, causality, economic impacts, preparedness, and mitigation. - Provides inter- and multi-disciplinary research accessible to both specialists and non-specialists - Includes newly added chapters on emerging hazards and risks to earth's ecosystems (land conversion and habitat loss) and human health (spread of diseases) - Contains full-color tables, maps, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs of hazardous processes




Biology of Grasshoppers


Book Description

Novel Aspects of Insect-Plant Interactions Edited by Pedro Barbosa and Deborah Letourneau This volume represents the forefront of two rapidly advancing areas of ecology: three-trophic-level interactions and the interdisciplinary field of chemical ecology The book focuses on the role of microorganisms as mediators of interactions between insects and plants, providing critical appraisal of studies and suggesting ways to integrate competing hypotheses of insect-plant dynamics. 1988 (0 471-83276-6) 362 pp. Arthropod Biological Control Agents and Pesticides Brian A. Croft Examining the effects of pesticides on predators and parasites and exploring methods for reducing negative impacts of pesticide use, this book focuses on the interaction of pesticides with entomophagous arthropods. It surveys the history of research in the field and discusses susceptibility assessment, lethal, sublethal, and ecological effects of pesticides, and selectivity, resistance, and resistance management. 1990 (0 471-81975-1) 723 pp. Lepidopteran Anatomy, John Eaton This single-source treatment on the anatomy of Lepidoptera provides a detailed exposition of its anatomy plus all its life stages, including the larva and adult forms of the exoskeleton, musculature, organ systems, and specialized structures. As the only thorough examination of the morphology of this insect group, it is an essential acquisition for entomologists, morphologists, and insect physiologists. 1988 (1-05862-9) 257 pp. Integrated Pest Management Systems and Cotton Production Edited by Ray Frisbie, Kamal El-Zik, and L. Ted Wilson The most complete and authoritative work available on the subject, this book brings together information on integrated pest management strategies that are applicable to cotton. It addresses economic, agronomic, and biological factors of pest management and focuses on plant resistance to pests and the genetic rationale for improving plant health. 1989 (0 471-81782-1) 437 pp.




The Evolution of Insect Life Cycles


Book Description

This book was developed out of a symposium at the XVII International Congress of Entomology held in Hamburg, Germany, on August 21, 1984. This symposium was organized by Drs. William Bradshaw and Hugh Dingle, who subsequently asked us to edit the proceedings. The chapters represent, for the most part, papers that were read in Hamburg but have been expanded and updated. The goal of this volume is to provide a comprehensive view of current research on insect life cycles, including field and laboratory studies, broad comparisons among species or local populations, and intensive studies of single populations, as well as theoretical research. Of necessity, given the magnitude of research now being carried out on insects, some important research programs are not included, and therein lie the makings of future volumes. This volume is divided into three parts. The first part, Geographical Patterns in Insect Life Cycles, explores various applications of a comparative method that has been valuable in investigating the potential for variability in life history parameters and the relation of these parameters to important variables in the environment.




Advances in Machine Learning and Computational Intelligence


Book Description

This book gathers selected high-quality papers presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning and Computational Intelligence (ICMLCI-2019), jointly organized by Kunming University of Science and Technology and the Interscience Research Network, Bhubaneswar, India, from April 6 to 7, 2019. Addressing virtually all aspects of intelligent systems, soft computing and machine learning, the topics covered include: prediction; data mining; information retrieval; game playing; robotics; learning methods; pattern visualization; automated knowledge acquisition; fuzzy, stochastic and probabilistic computing; neural computing; big data; social networks and applications of soft computing in various areas.




The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security: 2021


Book Description

On top of a decade of exacerbated disaster loss, exceptional global heat, retreating ice and rising sea levels, humanity and our food security face a range of new and unprecedented hazards, such as megafires, extreme weather events, desert locust swarms of magnitudes previously unseen, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people – most of them in low-income developing countries – and remains a key driver of development. At no other point in history has agriculture been faced with such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously changing landscape. And agriculture continues to absorb a disproportionate share of the damage and loss wrought by disasters. Their growing frequency and intensity, along with the systemic nature of risk, are upending people’s lives, devastating livelihoods, and jeopardizing our entire food system. This report makes a powerful case for investing in resilience and disaster risk reduction – especially data gathering and analysis for evidence informed action – to ensure agriculture’s crucial role in achieving the future we want.