MOSES wannabes need not enlist divine intervention to unleash a locust swarm 鈥� a little Prozac could do the trick. Serotonin, the brain chemical whose release is boosted by such antidepressants, is the reason why normally solitary desert locusts turn into swarming critters capable of ravaging crops.
That locusts overcome their loner tendencies at all has mystified researchers, though biologist at the University of Cambridge and colleagues had already found one piece of the jigsaw 鈥� they knew that serotonin levels spike during the switch between behaviours.
Now, the team have discovered that the chemical also triggers the behaviour. When serotonin was blocked with drugs, locusts would not initiate swarming, while ramping up the chemical made them keen to band together (Science, ).
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Blocking serotonin could be an environmentally friendly way of battling swarms. 鈥淯sually what ends them is 11,000 litres of insecticide,鈥� notes Rogers. But for damping serotonin to be effective, timing will be key, Stevenson warns: serotonin is only needed as a trigger, so drugs that block it will probably be useless in stemming raging swarms.