Flash Expansion Threshold in Whirligig Swarms.

In the selfish herd hypothesis, prey animals move toward each other to avoid the likelihood of being selected by a predator. However, many grouped animals move away from each other the moment before a predator attacks. Very little is known about this phenomenon, called flash expansion, such as whether it is triggered by one individual or a threshold and how information is transferred between group members. We performed a controlled experiment with whirligig beetles in which the ratio of sighted to unsighted individuals was systematically varied and emergent flash expansion was measured. Specifically, we examined: the percentage of individuals in a group that startled, the resulting group area, and the longevity of the flash expansion. We found that one or two sighted beetles in a group of 24 was not enough to cause a flash expansion after a predator stimulus, but four sighted beetles usually initiated a flash expansion. Also, the more beetles that were sighted the larger the resulting group area and the longer duration of the flash expansion. We conclude that flash expansion is best described as a threshold event whose adaptive value is to prevent energetically costly false alarms while quickly mobilizing an emergent predator avoidance response. This is one of the first controlled experiments of flash expansion, an important emergent property that has applications to understanding collective motion in swarms, schools, flocks, and human crowds. Also, our study is a convincing demonstration of social contagion, how the actions of one individual can pass through a group.

Collision avoidance during group evasive manoeuvres: a comparison of real versus simulated swarms with manipulated vision and surface wave detectors.

Coordinated group motion has been studied extensively both in real systems (flocks, swarms and schools) and in simulations (self-propelled particle (SPP) models using attraction and repulsion rules). Rarely are attraction and repulsion rules manipulated, and the resulting emergent behaviours of real and simulation systems are compared. We compare swarms of sensory-deprived whirligig beetles with matching simulation models. Whirligigs live at the water's surface and coordinate their grouping using their eyes and antennae. We filmed groups of beetles in which antennae or eyes had been unilaterally obstructed and measured individual and group behaviours. We then developed and compared eight SPP simulation models. Eye-less beetles formed larger diameter resting groups than antenna-less or control groups. Antenna-less groups collided more often with each other during evasive group movements than did eye-less or control groups. Simulations of antenna-less individuals produced no difference from a control (or a slight decrease) in group diameter. Simulations of eye-less individuals produced an increase in group diameter. Our study is important in (i) differentiating between group attraction and repulsion rules, (ii) directly comparing emergent properties of real and simulated groups, and (iii) exploring a new sensory modality (surface wave detection) to coordinate group movement.