Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» What causes locusts to swarm, gnats to congregate, roaches/maggots to appear then disappear for long periods of time?
What causes locusts to swarm, gnats to congregate, roaches/maggots to appear then disappear for long periods of time?
Is there something somewhere that triggers their appearance in frightening numbers which also accounts for their disappearance for years at a time? Are they predictable?
Locusts swarm when local food supplies are scarce. Their bodies physically change to enable them to fly long distances to find food. The swarm together for safety reasons. Great numbers increases their survival rate. I have seen gnats congregate in what I call 'gnat tornadoes' Usually a hundred or more swirling in a small swarm that looks like a tornado. I think it is for mating purposes. Maggots come and go rapidly as the quickly become flies. Roaches? They seem to never go away; they reproduce rapidly. I have never heard of them disappearing for years. It must be our different climates.
Roaches are back now E but for a couple of years we didn't see even one! It's so strange how these critters ebb and flow from year to year. Thank you for your thorough thoughtful and very informative reply. I appreciate it! :)
Also animals like those tend to breed in favourable times of the year, so you see them in swarms etc rather than in small numbers of individuals scattered from month to month.
They are affected by weather changes, too. Some years are better than others for them.
Maybe their patterns were always the same and I just never paid attention or noticed. I don't know why I notice such things now. Maybe it is much too big to ignore. Thank you for your reply Durdle and Happy Monday! :)
This post was edited by RosieG at July 22, 2019 12:12 PM MDT
I often sit on my front porch observing the animals. Odd things are happening. We have had very few hummingbirds stop by this year. There seem to be more rabbits than normal, and the chipmunks are all but gone.
Now that you mention it E I haven't seen a hummingbird in YEARS! When we first moved here I saw them all the time in our backyard! They are amazing to watch. But they've disappeared from here. We don't live in the countryside as you do so we don't see rabbits or chipmunks. But we used to see possums occasionally and haven't seen any of those for a few years as well. It's weird. I remember a few years ago what a big deal was being made about the disappearance of bees. Think homo saps will be next? Thank you for your reply m'dear! :)
That sounds HEAVENLY to me E. "...most of the older residential areas are forested"! When Jim and I visited Rich during the time he was in Boston for six months many years ago it was Jim's first time in Massachusetts! He couldn't get over the tree-lined streets!Rich and his then-wife lived in Chestnut Hill and he worked on Beacon Hill. We visited Cape Cod and Jim loved that too! We visited the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. He fell in the love with lighthouses there! He was most impressed with the state! Thank you for your reply! :)
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