AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

The appearance of massed insects is indeed familiar to anyone who has observed the activities of ant colonies, bee swarms, large groups of aphids and other insects in his own garden. Without a great deal of imagination these swarming animals may appear not unlike a highly viscous liquid, each individual insect playing the role of an individual molecule. For instance, a large number of brown flour beetles has the peculiar appearance of slowly spreading brown molasses at room temperature, and, at a slightly higher temperature, that of thick lubricating oil. Further, the mass may be poured through a funnel and their volume measured with a graduated cylinder. These are the most obvious of their fluid characteristics.