Shistocerca gregaria requires jostling in order to lay the gregarious (swarm forming) offspring. It's the work of steve Simpson from Oxford (now in australia).
Cheers Chris
Dear All!
While looking at grasshoppers in a lab I saw that they jump right against walls with quite some force involved; apparently without any injury.
Every now and then one hears that animal swarms or flocks are "smart" and that they do not collide with each other. Therefore they seem to be a good biomimetic role model for traffic issues.
Now my question is: Is there any evidence that such animals (insects, fish, birds) really do not collide? Or is it rather not important for them when they touch each other every now and then?
Kind regards,
Manfred Drack