Japan’s “Doctor Locust”: Scientist Building Resilience Against an Ancient Menace in the African Desert

A swarm of locusts in the Sahara Desert. (© Koutaro Ould Maeno)

Koutaro Ould Maeno dressed in traditional Mauritanian garb. © Kawabata Hiroto.

A tent provides shelter and serves as the base of operations for Maeno’s field research. (© Koutaro Ould Maeno)

Locusts perch on Maeno as he conducts fieldwork. (© Kawabata Hiroto)

An insect cage Maeno created using available materials in Africa. (© Koutaro Ould Maeno)

Maeno (second row, right) with Douglas Whitman (in the rear at center) and his students. (Courtesy: Koutaro Ould Maeno)

Desert Locust Mating Behavior

Maeno’s two books are entertaining windows into his research on desert locusts. The prize-winning works have together sold over 360,000 copies. (© Kōbunsha Shinsho)