# Swarm behaviour
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** [[Agent-based_model|agent-based model]]
- **Microsimmability score:** 88/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Separation`
- `Alignment`
- `Cohesion`
### What animates
Boid-like agents flock as separation, alignment, and cohesion weights are tuned.
### Learning objective
Show how three simple steering rules produce coherent flocking.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Swarm_behaviour.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Acrididae` · `Active_matter` · [[Agent-based_model]] · `Agent-based_model_in_biology` · `Agulhas_Bank` · `Algae` · `Algal_bloom` · `Allee_effect` · `Altitudinal_migration` · `Anchovy` · `Animal_migration` · `Animal_migration_tracking` · `Animal_navigation` · `Ant` · `Ant_colony` · `Ant_mill` · `Ant_robotics` · `Antarctic_krill` · `Army_ant` · [[Artificial_intelligence]] · `Autonomous_agent` · `BIO-LGCA` · `Bacteria` · `Bait_ball` · `Baseball` · `Batman_Returns` · `Bees_algorithm` · `Beetle` · `Biological_organisation` · `Biomass` · `Biomimetics` · `Bird_migration` · `Bird_of_prey` · `Bird_strike` · `Boids` · `Breeding_in_the_wild` · `Butterfly` · `Carbon_cycle` · `Carbon_sink` · `Carrion` · `Cell_migration` · [[Cellular_automaton]] · `Central_America` · `Circadian_clock` · `Clustering_of_self-propelled_particles` · `Clutch_(eggs)` · `Cockroach` · `Coded_wire_tag` · `Collective_animal_behavior` · [[Collective_intelligence]] · `Collective_motion` · `Colony_(biology)` · `Computer_simulation` · `Convergent_evolution` · `Copepod` · `Coral_reef` · `Craig_Reynolds_(computer_graphics)` · `Critical_mass_(sociodynamics)` · `Crowd` · `Crowd_simulation` · `Crustacean` · `Decentralised_system` · `Decentralization` · `Desert_locust` · `Diapause` · `Diel_vertical_migration` · `Discovery_Channel` · `Discrete_optimization` · `Diurnality` · `Dragonfly` · `Droving` · `Dunlin` · `Earthquake_swarm` · `Ecdysis` · `Eel_life_history` · [[Emergence]] · `Erasmus_Darwin` · `Escape_response` · `Euler_equations_(fluid_dynamics)` · `European_honey_buzzard` · `Eusociality` · [[Evolution]] · `Exoskeleton` · `Falsterbo` · `Feeding_frenzy` · `Field_(physics)` · `Fish_migration` · `Fitness_(biology)` · `Flock_(birds)` · `Florida_Institute_of_Technology` · `Forage_fish` · `Foraging` · [[Genetic_algorithm]] · `Gibraltar` · `Grasshopper` · `Greenhouse_gas` · `Group_size_measures` · `Guerrilla_warfare` · `Harvard_University` · `Herd` · `Herd_behavior` · `Herding_dog` · `Herring` · `History_of_wildlife_tracking_technology` · `Homing_(biology)` · `Honey_bee` · `IRobot` · `Imprinting_(psychology)` · `Insect` · `Insect_migration` · `Intelligent_agent` · `James_Kennedy_(social_psychologist)` · `Jellyfish` · `Krill` · `Lateral_line` · `Lecture_Notes_in_Computer_Science` · `Lek_mating` · `Lepidoptera_migration` · `Lessepsian_migration` · `Lobster` · `Locust` · `Marco_Dorigo` · `Marketing` · `Microbial_intelligence` · `Microbotics` · `Minnow` · `Mixed-species_foraging_flock` · `Mobbing_(animal_behavior)` · `Molecular_motor` · `Monarch_butterfly` · `Monarch_butterfly_migration` · `Moth` · `Mutualism_(biology)` · `Myxobacteria` · `NASA_Earth_Observatory` · `Nanorobotics` · `Natal_homing` · `National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration` · `New_Scientist` · `Nigel_R._Franks` · `Nymph_(biology)` · `Oecophylla_smaragdina` · `Office_of_Naval_Research` · `Pack_(canine)` · `Pack_hunter` · [[Particle_swarm_optimization]] · `Passenger_pigeon` · `Patterns_of_self-organization_in_ants` · `Peloton` · `Pest_(organism)` · `Pheromone` · `Philopatry` · `Physical_Review_Letters` · `Phytoplankton` · `Piranha` · `Plankton` · `Point_particle` · `Population_cycle` · `Predator_satiation` · [[Quorum_sensing]] · [[Radhika_Nagpal]] · `Reverse_migration_(birds)` · `Ritual` · `Robot` · [[Robotics]] · `Rome` · `Russell_C._Eberhart` · `SRI_International` · `Salmon_run` · `Salp` · `Santa_Cruz,_California` · `Sardine` · `Sardine_run` · [[Science_(journal)]] · `Sea_turtle_migration` · [[Self-organization]] · `Self-propelled_particles` · `Selfish_herd_theory` · `Serotonin` · `Sheep` · `Shoaling_and_schooling` · `Signal_transduction` · `Smart_card` · `Sort_sol` · `Spatial_organization` · `Star_cluster` · `Starling` · `Stigmergy` · `Stochastic_optimization` · `Superorganism` · `Swarm_(simulation)` · `Swarm_intelligence` · `Swarm_robotics` · `Swarming_(honey_bee)` · `Swarming_(military)` · `Swarming_motility` · `Symbrion` · `Symmetry_breaking_of_escaping_ants` · [[Synchronization]] · `Tamás_Vicsek` · `The_Economist` · `The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)` · [[Thermodynamic_equilibrium]] · `Tonne` · `Topological_space` · `Traffic_flow` · `Traffic_wave` · `Trilobite` · `V_formation` · `Vicsek_model` · `Waggle_dance` · [[Wayback_Machine]] · `Wingtip_vortices` · `Wolfram_Demonstrations_Project` · `Zebrafish` · `Zooplankton`
## From the Real GENERATIVE library
*Swarm behaviour — placed from the Real G.E.N.E.R.A.T.I.V.E. course library (Information room). Source: Wikimedia Commons (via Wikipedia article media). [Details & license](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Searchtool.svg).*
*Animated: Swarm behaviour — placed from the Real G.E.N.E.R.A.T.I.V.E. course library (Information room). Source: Wikimedia Commons (via Wikipedia article media). [Details & license](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Synchropredation.gif).*
> Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving en masse or migrating in some direction. It is a highly interdisciplinary topic.[1] ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_behaviour))
<!-- REAL-GENERATIVE-MEDIA:END -->
## Media (PD/CC)
<!-- MEDIA-DEPLOY:Swarm_behaviour/Synchropredation.gif -->
!Gif Library/Swarm behaviour/Synchropredation.gif
*Synchropredation.gif · Mr. Kils 320×200 (17,314 bytes) (synchropredation animation by uwe kils gfdl self) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Synchropredation.gif)*
<!-- /MEDIA-DEPLOY -->
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Science · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_behaviour)
> Relation: subfield of systems science.
## Concept summary
Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving en masse or migrating in some direction.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems science)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Swarm behaviour
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render agent-based model; respond live.
}
```
---
Back to Systems Science · Wikipedia: [Swarm behaviour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_behaviour)
---
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (4):** 🟢 emergence (18) · 🟡 system (10) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 tradeoff balance (1)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
<!-- REAL-GENERATIVE-MEDIA:START -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_behaviour) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Swarm_behaviour)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Agent-based_model]] · [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
---
*Sources: 2 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*