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Phase transitions in insect swarms.

Andy M Reynolds1

  • 1Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom.

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|August 9, 2023
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Environmental fluctuations drive insect swarms to form transient, local order. This emergent property, a byproduct of increased repulsion, leads to collective movement phases and tuneable swarm structures, unifying observed behaviors across species.

Keywords:
collective behavioursdynamics of social systemsinsect swarms

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Area of Science:

  • Collective animal behavior
  • Insect swarm dynamics
  • Environmental influence on biological systems

Background:

  • Wild insect swarms exhibit complex coordinated behavior, unlike laboratory models.
  • Hypothesized that fluctuating environments induce local order, enhancing swarm robustness.
  • Mosquito swarm observations support the link between environmental changes and synchronized subgroups.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide numerical evidence for the role of environmental fluctuations in insect swarm behavior.
  • To investigate the formation of transient, local order and its impact on swarm structure.
  • To demonstrate the tuneability of swarm states and structures by environmental noise.

Main Methods:

  • Numerical simulations of insect swarms under fluctuating environmental conditions.
  • Analysis of short-range repulsion strengthening as a response to environmental noise.
  • Identification of emergent swarm phases, including crystalline states and cooperative ring exchanges.

Main Results:

  • Transient, local order formation is an emergent property of strengthened short-range repulsion.
  • Swarm dynamics can transition into a crystalline phase with subgroups engaged in cooperative ring exchanges.
  • Environmental noise acts as a control parameter for swarm state and structure.
  • Predicted collective modes align with observations of synchronized subgroups in mosquito swarms.

Conclusions:

  • Insect swarm behavior, including synchronized subgroups and crystalline states, can be explained by a unified model influenced by environmental noise.
  • Cooperative ring exchanges represent a novel form of collective animal movement.
  • Observed variations in insect swarming are interpreted as different phases of a single phenomenon, tuneable by environmental parameters.