Cannibal crickets on a forced march for protein and salt

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
S J SimpsonIain Couzin

Abstract

Swarming and mass migration are spectacular and sometimes devastating features of the biology of various animal species. These phenomena are typically associated with actual or anticipated depletion of food resources after an increase in population density, but the mechanisms driving such collective movements are poorly understood. Here we reveal that insects in large, coordinated migratory bands consisting of millions of Mormon crickets in western North America were deprived of two essential nutritional resources: protein and salt. The insects themselves provided a major source of these nutrients, and cannibalism was rife. We show that protein and salt satiation reduced cannibalism and that protein satiation inhibited walking. Additionally, experimentally reducing the motility or mobility of crickets substantially increased their risk of being cannibalized by other band members. As a result, the availability of protein and salt in the habitat will influence the extent to which bands march, both through the direct effect of nutrient state on locomotion and indirectly through the threat of cannibalism by resource-deprived crickets approaching from the rear. The crickets are, in effect, on a forced march. Migratory band formation...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Aug 7, 2010·Die Naturwissenschaften·Keri L ChristensenMark A Elgar
May 9, 2013·Nature Communications·Roshan K VijendravarmaTadeusz J Kawecki
Nov 14, 2008·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Michael KaspariRobert Dudley
Feb 10, 2010·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Audrey DussutourStephen J Simpson
May 15, 2013·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Robert B Srygley, Patrick D Lorch
Dec 7, 2013·Interface Focus·J BuhlStephen J Simpson
Dec 7, 2013·Interface Focus·Pawel Romanczuk, Lutz Schimansky-Geier
Nov 23, 2012·Interface Focus·David J T SumpterAndrea Perna
Aug 27, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Sepideh BazaziIain D Couzin
Jan 13, 2012·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Kim JensenStephen J Simpson
Oct 6, 2010·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Michael KearneyBrian Helmuth
Dec 8, 2009·Annual Review of Entomology·Matthew L RichardsonLawrence M Hanks
Aug 8, 2007·Annual Review of Entomology·Darryl T Gwynne
Dec 24, 2010·PloS One·Sepideh BazaziIain D Couzin
Apr 18, 2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·R EftimieM A Lewis
Sep 10, 2013·ELife·Yair ShemeshElad Schneidman
Sep 6, 2011·Annual Review of Entomology·Anna DornhausSarah Bengston
Jun 27, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Michael Kaspari
Jun 18, 2014·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Robin W Warne
May 2, 2012·The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. Le Journal Canadien Des Sciences Neurologiques·Mandar S Jog, Derek B Debicki
Mar 1, 2016·Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience·Gaurav DasScott Waddell
Feb 10, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Alistair M SeniorStephen J Simpson
Feb 26, 2016·Royal Society Open Science·Bertrand CollignonJosé Halloy
Aug 18, 2009·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Stephen J SimpsonUNKNOWN ARC-NZ Vegetation Function Network Herbivory Working Group
Sep 29, 2015·Current Biology : CB·Samuel James WalkerCarlos Ribeiro
Oct 21, 2015·Current Biology : CB·Stephen J Simpson, David Raubenheimer
Jul 5, 2008·Mathematical Biosciences·Allison KolpasIoannis G Kevrekidis
Aug 14, 2012·Ecology Letters·Vishwesha GuttalIain D Couzin
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Apr 3, 2016·Neotropical Entomology·A Córdoba-AguilarA E Gutiérrez-Cabrera
Oct 30, 2013·Insect Science·Lucy C CooperSimon R Leather

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