Just add water: The garden insect that can turn into a plague - Jeffrey A. Lockwood episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 14, 2026 · 8 MIN

Just add water: The garden insect that can turn into a plague - Jeffrey A. Lockwood

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Discover what causes desert locusts to transform into crop-consuming plagues and how they directly endanger humanity.--A ravenous swarm stretches as far as the eye can see. It has no leader or strategic plan; its only goals are to eat, breed, and move on. These are desert locusts— infamous for their capacity for destruction. But most of the time desert locusts are no more dangerous than grasshoppers. So what does it take to turn these harmless insects into a crop-consuming plague? Jeffrey A. Lockwood investigates.Lesson by Jeffrey A. Lockwood, directed by Franz Palomares.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/are-locust-plagues-unstoppable-jeffrey-a-lockwoodDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/are-locust-plagues-unstoppable-jeffrey-a-lockwood#digdeeper----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Tyron Jung, Carolyn Corwin, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Côme Vincent, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Samantha Chow, Eunsun Kim, Phyllis Dubrow, Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Lyn-z Schulte, Elaine Fitzpatrick, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Dan Paterniti, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Elnathan Joshua Bangayan, Jayant Sahewal, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Kris Siverhus, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, Boytsov Ilya, SookKwan Loong and Bev Millar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Just add water: The garden insect that can turn into a plague - Jeffrey A. Lockwood

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