Why do insects gather in groups?

Insects often live in large spaces such as fields, gardens or forests, so finding and mating is often difficult. To overcome this challenge, insects have developed and perfected biological communication capabilities through their senses to find each other. However, the effectiveness of this process depends heavily on the density and distance between individuals. At high densities, the opportunity to find a mate is greater, explaining why during the breeding season, insects often gather in crowded colonies.

When gathered in large populations, communication signals such as images, sounds, or scents from each individual individual are amplified, creating a powerful collective effect. Thanks to that, they attract many other individuals from longer distances, increasing the chances of meeting and mating.

Not only does it benefit reproduction, grouping also reduces the risk of being hunted by enemies thanks to the “danger sharing” effect. On the other hand, a population with diverse genetic resources because it is gathered from many different groups of individuals helps reduce the risk of inbreeding in reproduction.