Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 29, 2025
06:48
The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior
Published on: January 19, 2019
9.6K
Modelling locust foraging: How and why food affects group formation.
Fillipe Georgiou1, Camille Buhl2, J E F Green3
1School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
Plos Computational Biology
|July 7, 2021
Summary
Food distribution influences locust swarm formation. Optimal food resources increase group density and reduce the time and locust numbers needed for aggregation, revealing a foraging advantage for gregarious locusts.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Mathematical Biology
- Zoology
Background:
- Locusts exhibit solitary or gregarious behaviors based on population density.
- Gregarious locusts form destructive swarms, often preceded by nymph aggregation.
- Understanding food distribution's role in group formation is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how food resource distribution affects locust group formation.
- To model the interplay between locusts, food, and gregarization.
Main Methods:
- Developed a multi-population partial differential equation model.
- Incorporated non-local locust interactions, local locust-food interactions, and gregarization dynamics.
- Utilized numerical experiments to analyze foraging efficiency.
Main Results:
- Food availability increases maximum locust group density.
- Optimal food width reduces the gregarious population percentage required for group formation.
- Decreased locust density and time are needed for group formation with optimal food resources.
Conclusions:
- Food distribution is a key factor in locust swarm and group formation.
- Gregarious behavior offers a foraging advantage.
- Mathematical modeling provides insights into locust aggregation dynamics.
Related Concept Videos
00:48Optimal Foraging
12.6K
How animals obtain and eat their food is called foraging behavior. Foraging can include searching for plants and hunting for prey and depends on the species and environment.
12.6K
01:37Social Loafing
37.3K
Another way in which a group presence can affect performance is social loafing—the exertion of less effort by a person working together with a group. Social loafing occurs when our individual performance cannot be evaluated separately from the group. Thus, group performance declines on easy tasks (Karau & Williams, 1993). Essentially individual group members loaf and let other group members pick up the slack. Because each individual’s efforts cannot be evaluated,...
37.3K
01:28Impact of Groups on Individuals
128
Groups play a fundamental role in shaping individual behavior, as they establish norms that guide interactions and decision-making. Social psychology examines how individuals conform to group expectations, often adjusting their attitudes and actions to align with group norms. These norms can be formal, such as workplace policies, or informal, such as unspoken social expectations within a fraternity.Conformity and Social InfluenceConformity arises when individuals modify their behaviors or...
128