Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]
Paaralng Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Mely C Tenorio, 738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday (Phase II 2006 to present)
Biologically swarming is essentially a social act enabling
members of a colony to share genes with others belonging to the same species
but different colonies.
Migratory locust: swarm and close-up. (Acknowledgment: Internet)
Nature has so timed swarming to occur simultaneously in order to enhance gene sharing which is vital to the survival of the species, otherwise in-breeding within the colony is perpetuated like brothers, sisters, marrying each other.
Migratory locust: swarm and close-up. (Acknowledgment: Internet)
Nature has so timed swarming to occur simultaneously in order to enhance gene sharing which is vital to the survival of the species, otherwise in-breeding within the colony is perpetuated like brothers, sisters, marrying each other.
A kind of swarming is also observed among coelenterates
(corals). At a given precise time, eggs
and sperms are released into the water in countless numbers, and there
fertilization takes place, the resulting zygotes becoming minute hydras that
will soon attach themselves to become new corals. In certain islands in the
Pacific ghost crabs crowd the shorelines and beaches during a particular period
of the year at a certain phase of the moon, and there mating takes place in a
kind of orgy. The gravid females then
shake off their eggs in the water where they will soon hatch and initially
become zooplanktons. Very few of these survive
to maturity.
Swarming among winged termites (simut-simut Ilk.) is perhaps the most romantic, in fact it is
called nuptial flight because in the sweltering night air lovers meet, and then they descend and seal
their vows. The couple seeks a suitable
place where they will establish a colony.
Swarms of gamu-gamu
(gnats and midges) become nuisance to communities in sheer number, swarms of locust destroy fields
of standing crops overnight, swarms of bees, especially the African bees, may
send a whole community to abandon homes and belongings. In the bible King
Solomon halted his troop to let an army of ants pass by. This could be the kind of ants we know that
invade homes and schools, and there are killer ants that destroy everything on
their path.
Old folks attribute swarming to several reasons which
science has tried to explain scientifically.
·
Swarming is a seasonal occurrence dictated by a
biological clock, and therefore timed with the life cycle of the species. (e.g.
termites and ants). This kind of
swarming occurs regularly to a particular species.
·
Certain organisms such as locusts (Locusta migratoria manilensis) are
driven by necessity to gather into a swarm.
Small groups first congregate where food is available and then coalesce
into huge numbers, mating and reproducing along the way, before turning into
migratory swarms. This kind of swarming though unpredictable has historical
records in a place. It often jibes with
the occurrence of widespread drought or with the El Niño phenomenon.
·
Ecological imbalance may lead to swarming such
as the case of gamu-gamu swarming on Laguna
Bay
Much of what we know about the subject can’t sufficiently
explain pathological conditions where bacteria suddenly burst in numbers, or
how fungi all of a sudden grow over an entire forest floor. Why do people move
to cities? Is urbanization a kind of
swarming? Why did the Israelites turn to the golden calf, a symbol of
fertility, after their deliverance from Egypt ? Do we harbor the genes for
swarming called orgy?
A flock of swifts (Penablanca, Pampanga); brown finch or maya (Virac, Catanduanes). Members often cross flocks to share genes, and prevent in-breeding. This phenomenon is applied in herds, pride (of lions), schools (of fish), and other social units.
Colony of higad, tussock moth caterpillars (Lagro, QC); an army of hantik ants attacking a caterpillar (UP Diliman, QC). Members of a colony are pre-destined into castes, but come swarming time and they are liberated to perform reproductive function. Hence ants and termites are liberated from their castes, leave their colonies and join the once in-a-year super swarm participated in by countless of winged members of different colonies. After the nuptial flight, pairs begin to form new colonies. .
Coy in frenzy at feeding time. Safari World (Bangkok,Thailand)
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