Data from: Interspecific shared collective decision-making in two forensically important species

To date, the study of collective behaviour has mainly focused on intraspecific situations: the collective decision-making of mixed-species groups involving interspecific aggregation-segregation has received little attention. Here, we show that, in both conspecific and heterospecific groups, the larvae of two species (Lucilia sericata and Calliphora vomitoria, calliphorid carrion-feeding flies) were able to make a collective choice. In all groups, the choice was made within a few minutes and persisted throughout the experiment period. The monitoring of a focal individual within a group showed that these aggregations were governed by attractive and retentive effects of the group. Furthermore, the similarity observed between the conspecific and heterospecific groups suggested the existence of shared aggregation signals. The group size was found to have a stronger influence than the species of necrophagous larvae. These results should be viewed in relation to the well-known correlation between group size and heat generation. This study provides the first experimental examination of the dynamics of collective decision-making in mixed-species groups of invertebrates, contributing to our understanding of the cooperation-competition phenomenon in animal social groups.迄今为止，有关集体行为的研究主要聚焦于种内情境，而涉及种间聚集-分离现象的混合物种群体的集体决策却鲜有探讨。本研究发现，无论是同种群体还是异种群体，两种食腐丽蝇的幼虫——丝光绿蝇(Lucilia sericata)与红头丽蝇(Calliphora vomitoria)——均能完成集体选择。所有受试群体均可在数分钟内做出选择，且该选择在整个实验周期内保持稳定。对群体内焦点个体的监测结果表明，此类聚集行为受群体的吸引与滞留效应调控。此外，同种与异种群体间观察到的行为相似性，暗示存在共享的聚集信号。研究还发现，相较于食腐幼虫的物种属性，群体规模对集体决策的影响更为显著。上述结果可结合群体规模与产热之间的已知关联进行解读。本研究首次针对无脊椎动物混合物种群体的集体决策动力学开展实验探究，有助于深化学界对动物社会群体中合作-竞争现象的认知。