Fruits of evolution that look more like photoshop: murmuration and other examples of collective movement (16 photos)

There is no better artist than nature. At the same time, like man-made creativity, nature creates amazing pictures in different formats.





Murmuration is one of these disciplines in which nature creates its masterpieces.



What lies behind this funny term? No, this is not an artistic dream of seals, but a coordinated flight of birds. Not everyone can do this; coordinated flights of flocks are typical for birds such as starlings, jackdaws, crows, and so on.





But the most famous are the flights of flocks of starlings that perform the “starling dance.”



However, not only birds are able to move harmoniously. Fish use similar tactics to escape from underwater predators.



Tunnel of fish



Collective defense against predators. School of sprat, Maldives.



Coordinated movement







The collective instinct is also observed in insects. An example is the Monarch butterflies, which migrate to Mexico every year in an entire colony. It can contain from 1200 to 2800 insects. And in total, millions of butterflies travel a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers.









True, not all coordinated movements of insects are so beautiful.



For example, a dense swarm of chironomids, or bell mosquitoes. Just the sight of this swarm becomes a little scary.

These mosquitoes got their name due to the fact that the sound of their swarm is heard from afar.

But there is no need to be afraid of the bites of these mosquitoes, because the mouth of adult individuals, which are called adults, is reduced, and they feed on the energy accumulated in the phase of existence by the larvae. By the way, this is an amphibiotic class of insects, due to the fact that their larvae are in the water, and when the process of “hatching” occurs, the individuals formed from the larvae of the imags fly in a swarm above the water surface.



Unlike birds and fish, mosquito swarming is due to reproductive reasons. In other words, a swarm is a big party where males meet females. Another amazing fact about these mosquitoes is that males recognize flying females by sound, and females by sight and also by sound.

The fact is that adult males hatch earlier due to the fact that they are physiologically larger individuals and require more time to fully develop. Following the males, the females hatch; the imago has a difference in the frequency of wing flaps depending on the sex of the individual.