ELI5. Why to tiny flies swarm together in one place when they have the whole planet at their wing tips?

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We’ve all been there. Walking along and suddenly loads of tiny midges or flies, and after 2 or 3 steps they are all gone… Left behind in the same place. They don’t seem to be going anywhere or doing anything.

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Were the flies hovering around a street lamp?

Anonymous 0 Comments

They could go anywhere else but those places don’t have what they are looking for. What they are looking for is hot insect booty; it might not look to you as if they are doing anything in particular but you can barely see them at all. Much like people crowding a night club their odds of finding a mate are much better when grouped than if they all randomly wandered.

Anonymous 0 Comments

If there’s something in that spot that draws one, it’ll draw any others in the area depending on the senses of the insect and the strength of the thing drawing them.

If it’s a warmer patch of air, they follow the gradient; heading in the direction where the air is warmer until they’re in a patch where there is no air warner than there (near them). Or replace warmth with light. Or pheromones. Or a smell that means food. A bunch of insects in an area following the same stimuli will naturally converge in the same area.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Why do people bunch up in cities when there’s a whole world to spread out into?

It’s a combination of factors but being born near there and then that place having the resources that they’re looking for