Insect discovered in place close to desert (6)
I believe the answer is:
locust
'insect' is the definition.
(locust is a kind of insect)
'place close to desert' is the wordplay.
'place' becomes 'locus' (I've seen this before).
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the close/ending of).
The last letter of 'desert' is 't'.
'locus'+'t'='LOCUST'
'discovered in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for locust that I've seen before include "Sort of migratory grasshopper" , "Swarming, devouring, insect" , "plaguey type" , "A deadly grasshopper seen in plagues" , "Grasshopper of warm regions" .)