Montpellier Scientific Community



Locust ecology and control (EMPA)

Director: Michel Lecoq

Research area
The Locust ecology and control (EMPA) unit addresses the problems raised by locust pests, mainly in the tropical regions of Africa, the Near East, Asia and Latin America. The research conducted is aimed at gaining better understanding of the determinism of outbreaks, the setting up of surveillance and agricultural warning systems and the development of new control methods that are more effective, more economical and ecologically more acceptable.
Research highlights
During the last few years, progress has been made in the following fields:
  • Population genetic of the migratory locust (Locusta m.) at the scale of the whole old world, better understanding of outbreak determinism in various areas of the world (Chad, Indonesia) and improvement of the early warning system in Madagascar.
  • Biogeography of the Desert Locust in West Africa (Mauritania) and Maghreb (Algeria), better knowledge about the outbreak areas and various contributions to improve the early warning system and the preventive control strategy at the international scale.
  • Demography and population genetics of a protected grasshopper of the French fauna (Prionotropis h. r.) and conservation strategy.
  • Better understanding of the ecology, population dynamics and seasonal migrations of the red locust (I.) in Madagascar.
  • Various experiments (in Mauritania, Brazil, Sudan...) on new control methods (barrier treatments...) and products, including botanics and biopesticides.
  • Providing expertise to help to organize locust control operations (Madagascar, Peru, Chad, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan...),project stewardship (China, Niger, Erythrea, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast...), training (Madagascar, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cape Verde Islands ...).
  • Publishing various books and training material on locust and grasshopper problems.
Staff profile
 
Total permanent staff Total Scientists Scientists with "HDR" [1] Post-doc fellows PhD
12
7
3
-
4
[1]French university degree for confirmed thesis supervisor
    
         
Research teams
The following topics are being addressed by the unit:
  • Locust biology and ecology (including population genetic)
  • Locust biotopes Control strategies (including remote sensing and GIS used to develop early warning systems)
  • Pesticides (including bio-pesticides) and application technique
Platforms and other tools
  • Information on locust and grasshoppers: http://locust.cirad.fr/
  • Locust literature online: http://ispi-lit.cirad.fr/
  • An interactive CD-ROM database on locusts
  • Training programs in "Anti-locust survey : pest locust control" and "Application techniques in locust control and plant protection" (and others on request)
Most important international partnerships
FAO (Locust Group), Italy
CLCPRO (Commission de lutte contre le criquet pèlerin) and University of Blida, Algeria
The Orthopterists' Society and the Association for Applied Acridology International (AAAI), USA
CNLAA Mauritania antilocust center
University of Tulear, CNA Antilocust center and FOFIFA, Madagascar
University of Kordofan, Sudan
EMBRAPA - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (Biotechnology center, Brasilia), Brasil
ISPI - International Society for Pest Information, Darmstadt, Germany
AGRHYMET Regional Centre, Niamey, Niger
Facts and figures
Publications in international ranking journals
2008: 2 (provisional)
2007: 1
2006: 2
2005: 4
Representative publications
Chapuis M.-P., Estoup A., Augé-Sabatier A., Foucart A., Lecoq M., Michalakis M. 2008. Genetic variation for parental effects on the propensity to gregarise in Locusta migratoria. BMC Evolutionary Biology 8: 37

Lecoq M., Franc A., Luong-Skovmand M.H., Raveloson A., Ravelombony V. 2006. Ecology and migration patterns of solitary red locusts, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serv.) (Orthop., Acrididae) in southwestern Madagascar. Annales de la Société entomologique de France 42(2):197-205

Franc A., Rabesisoa F.L., Luong-Skovmand M.H., Lecoq M. 2005. Red locust phases in Madagascar (Nomadacris septemfasciata Serville, Orthoptera, Cyrtacanthacridinae). International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 25(3): 182-189

Lecoq M., 2003. Desert Locust Threat to Agricultural Development and Food Security and FAO/ International Role in its Control. Arab Journal of Plant Protection 21:188-193

Magalhães B.P., Lecoq M., De Faria M.R., Schmidt F.G.V., Guerra W.D., 2000. Field trial with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum against bands of the grasshopper Rhammatocerus schistocercoides in Brazil. Biocontrol Science and Technology 10: 427-441