The Discreet Song of the Locust

The journal Archorales, dedicated to the history of French agronomic research, devoted its latest issue to the personal and professional journeys of a dozen researchers whose careers unfolded within CIRAD. I had the honour of being included in this selection and was interviewed about my career as an entomologist by three members of the Oral Archives Mission of the INRAE-CIRAD History Committee on 23 October 2023 in Montpellier.

Can one truly devote a lifetime to observing locusts—and turn that pursuit into a scientific, human, and diplomatic journey of rare depth? As a passionate acridologist, I would like to believe I have done just that. This account traces more than forty years of research on locusts and grasshoppers, conducted across some of the planet’s most arid landscapes and its most verdant regions. From Madagascar to the savannas of the Sahel, from the Brazilian Amazon to major international conferences, I have always championed a science that is rigorous, engaged, and respectful of the environment.  Through this narrative, offered as part of the Archorales project led by CIRAD, I hope to have shared a story that interweaves scientific research, field exploration, a deep commitment to development, and the transmission of knowledge in service to the world’s most vulnerable communities.

This interview offers more than just a career story: it provides a compelling window into the recent history of locust management—its hopes, its pitfalls, and the challenges that still remain today. A source of inspiration for anyone who believes that research can help change the world—starting with a patient ear to the discreet but essential song of the locust.

Reference:

Hainzelin E., Malezieux E., Cornu P., 2025. Michel Lecoq. Archorales 23(1): 104-131.  

📖 Read the full interview in Archorales No. 23 (CIRAD):

MICHEL LECOQ interview - Archorales 23(1).pdf

Télécharger PDF • 3.40MB

In 2001, at the Corum—Montpellier’s convention center—I welcomed participants to the international Congress of Orthopterology.

1988. I arrive in Mao—in the Kanem region of Chad—surrounded by soldiers guarding the small airstrip. A desert locust invasion (Schistocerca gregaria, Forskål, 1775) had just begun, and my mission was to test the effectiveness of a new insecticide.

In January 1991, I was stationed at the operational base of Operation GOELAN (Experimental Task Force for Anti-Locust Control in Niger), set in the heart of the Tamesna desert in northern Niger, near In Abangharit—a site that once hosted an OCLALAV field station. As the scientific coordinator of the operation, I was responsible for planning my daily helicopter survey flights.

In 2007, in Senegal, during a technical workshop on mycopesticides for locust control—organized by the FAO under the auspices of the International Orthopterists' Society—I had the opportunity to speak with Madame Viviane Wade, wife of the Senegalese President, to advocate for the use of these biological insecticides. To my left was the FAO representative in Senegal, and to my right were Thami Benhalima, Executive Secretary of the CLCPRO, and James W. Everts, ecotoxicology expert with the FAO’s Locust Group in Rome.

1994, on a sugarcane plantation in the Chapada dos Parecis region, Mato Grosso, Brazil. A swarm of Rhammatocerus schistocercoides Rehn, 1906 locusts suddenly lifts into the air.