2025-02-27 マックス・プランク研究所
© Einat Couzin-Fuchs, Inga Petelski, Yannick Günzel, Felix B. Oberhauser
<関連情報>
- https://www.mpg.de/24278514/0227-ornr-rewriting-the-rules-of-swarming-locusts-987453-x?c=2249
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq7832
群れをなすイナゴの集団運動を支配する行動メカニズム The behavioral mechanisms governing collective motion in swarming locusts
Editor’s summary
Nearly 20 years ago, a study of collective motion in locusts published in Science concluded that animals moving collectively do so in a way similar to particles. This conclusion has set the tone for much thinking about such movement in nature. Sayin et al., including authors of the original study, combined field and laboratory studies and found that locusts, and likely also other animals moving collectively, do not follow a “self-propelled” particle model (see the Perspective by Buhl and Simpson). Rather, they found that sensory and cognitive mechanisms mediate the interactions. —Sacha Vignieri
Abstract
Collective motion, which is ubiquitous in nature, has traditionally been explained by “self-propelled particle” models from theoretical physics. Here we show, through field, lab, and virtual reality experimentation, that classical models of collective behavior cannot account for how collective motion emerges in marching desert locusts, whose swarms affect the livelihood of millions. In contrast to assumptions made by these models, locusts do not explicitly align with neighbors. While individuals respond to moving-dot stimuli through the optomotor response, this innate behavior does not mediate social response to neighbors. Instead, locust marching behavior, across scales, can be explained by a minimal cognitive framework, which incorporates individuals’ neural representation of bearings to neighbors and internal consensus dynamics for making directional choices. Our findings challenge long-held beliefs about how order can emerge from disorder in animal collectives.
