Special Issue "Locusts and Grasshoppers: Bionomics, Distribution, and Population Management"

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Pest and Vector Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2023 | Viewed by 173

Special Issue Editors

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), VialedelleTerme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy
Interests: locust and grasshopper bioecology; pest management; international cooperation; early warning systems; history of entomology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
1. Department of General Biology and Ecology, Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova Street, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
2. Laboratory of Invertebrate Ecology, Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 11, Frunze Street, 630091 Novosibirsk, Russia
Interests: ecosystem; landscape; population; dispersal; classification; regionalization; ecomodelling; Holarctic; Orthoptera; plant protection

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Locusts, grasshoppers and other orthopteran insects are an intrinsic part of grassland ecosystems. Among them, locusts have been notorious pests since the dawn of agriculture. Infamous for their voracity, fecundity and transboundary migratory capabilities, they often damage crop fields and rangelands and thus jeopardize national and regional food security. The eruptive character of their long-term dynamics determines extremely irregular outbreaks. Despite numerous and diverse studies, we still do not fully understand which changes and relationships trigger outbreak development. At the same time, grasshoppers and other orthopterans are one of the most widely distributed and abundant groups of animals over grasslands. They consume the majority of primary production, intensify the local fluxes of matter and energy, accelerate plant growth and provide other ecosystem services. Many rare and endemic orthopterans deserve conservation efforts; at the same time, locust outbreaks may develop within the habitats of rare species. This means there are contradictions between approaches of plant protection and those of conservation biology. Conservation strategy can prevent or limit anti-locust treatments, especially those with insecticides. The problem of locust invasions is also real and has become even more severe due to climate change. This is why we should develop innovative approaches to safeguard the ecosystem services of orthopteran insects and, if necessary, apply economically and environmentally acceptable measures to manage their populations.

Prof. Dr. Alexandre V. Latchininsky
Prof. Dr. Michael G. Sergeev
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • locust
  • grasshopper
  • Orthoptera
  • bioecology
  • rare species conservation
  • pest management
  • climate change

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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