Social Networks Key to Crickets’ Success
Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160830160657.htm
Who knew that graphical social networks could predict crickets’ livelihood? David Fisher, a researcher at the University of Exeter, found that quantitative modeling of crickets’ living habits using social graphs, could accurately predict a cricket’s chance of passing on its genes to future generations. He did this by tracking field crickets with 130 video cameras, 24 hours a day for three months and analyzing the genders within a cricket’s burrow through a social graph. He found that if crickets shared a burrow with a member of the opposite sex, the chances of imparting their genetics to future generations were significantly higher. This was because a predator was more likely to reach in the burrow and grab the upper-most cricket (male), leaving the bottom cricket (female) to survive and pass on their genetics through its fertilized eggs.
This article relates to class because it shows that quantitative data collection, alongside qualitative modeling, can be applied to the most unique of social interactions – crickets in this case. The information of the crickets in the study was collected using a ‘census’ then visualized using social network graphs. The graphs were then further analyzed to determine similar connections for crickets that perished and did not live to pass on their genetics. These connections showed that crickets that shared a heterozygous burrow, were more likely to pass on their genetics and ‘succeed’ in the animal race.