On the origin of the tensile strength of insect swarms

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Reynolds, A. M. 2019. On the origin of the tensile strength of insect swarms. Physical Biology. 16 (4), p. 046002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/ab12b9

AuthorsReynolds, A. M.
Abstract

Traditionally animal groups have been characterized by the macroscopic patterns that they form. It is now recognised that such patterns convey limited information about the nature of the aggregation as a whole. Aggregate properties cannot be determined by passive observations alone; instead one must interact with them. One of the first such dynamical tests revealed that swarms of flying insects have macroscopic mechanical properties similar to solids, including a finite Young’s modulus and yield strength. Here I show, somewhat counterintuitively, that the emergence of these solid-like properties can be attributed to centre-of-mass movements (heat). This suggests that perturbations can drive phase transitions.

KeywordsInsect flight behaviours; Modelling
Year of Publication2019
JournalPhysical Biology
Journal citation16 (4), p. 046002
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/ab12b9
PubMed ID30901760
Web address (URL)https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1478-3975/ab12b9
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeBBSRC Strategic Programme in Smart Crop Protection
Publisher's version
Copyright license
CC BY
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright license
CC BY
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online22 Mar 2019
Publication process dates
Accepted22 Mar 2019
PublisherIOP Publishing Ltd
ISSN1478-3967

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