There are millions of sensory worlds that humans cannot perceive. Fathoming what it is like to be a wild thing is beyond the limited resolution of human senses. For example, insects live in a world of smell, decoding the subtle chemical nuances of scent that waft across their antennae. In the case of locusts—the migratory swarming form of certain asocial grasshoppers—their sense of smell is intimately tied to their physical and communal transformation. Certain environmental conditions trigger locusts to molt and secrete pheromones that attract more locusts.1,2 After shedding their old body and solitary existence, billions of locusts aggregate in devastating swarms that eclipse the sun and plague humans. This dramatic body and lifestyle makeover depends on their exquisite ability to detect and differentiate subtle odors.3
Recently, Debajit Saha, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan State University, and his team tapped into the odor-sensing circuitry of the locust ...
