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<p>[There is probably literature on this but wild speculation can be
fun.]</p>
<p>I think chaotic moth flight is not so dissimilar to purposive bee
flight. A bee will follow a predicable zig-zag, mapping the edge
of plume of perfume from an upwind flower. I think these moths are
doing something similar, but modulated by a PRNG function. As with
CDMA radio, these bugs are communicating with each other, they
want to find each other, they are using plumes of pheromones to
communicate, but with this extra chaotic signal mixed in, so as
with CDMA radio communications, they need to sync up with each
other, and they do seem to do so: there will be several in an
area, and then there will be none, and awhile later several again.</p>
<p>The other day at work I saw one parked on the office window: I
looked closely, and it had big comb-like antennae. Looked like
high-gain rigs, to quickly measure presence and absence of
interesting molecules, as it rapidly darts about in flight.<br>
</p>
<p>These moths seem to function well when presented with solid
objects, they and the plumes can't go through solid objects, and
they don't bang into them. But when confronted with a screen
covering an open window, they get messed up, they get stuck, their
PRNG modulated plume following algorithm says to go that way but
they can't. They look like they are trying to get in the house,
but I think the screen has simply exposed a weakness in their
strategy.<br>
</p>
<p>The birds have noticed, they are now hunting up against the
kitchen window and storm door, I occasionally hear them bang into
the wall or door as they go in for a snatch--each time I hope they
got it. There is bird shit under the roof, on a table that
normally never gets any. And I am pleased.</p>
<p>Trying to drag this a <i>bit</i> on topic, if these bugs are
navigating the world in a sensible (if effectively slow) manner,
mapped through a PRNG modulation, it needs to be pretty simple.
Not just to generate, but more so to demodulate it, so these
simple creatures can accomplish their larger navigation goals, and
really impressively, agree with other moths on compatible
modulation phases. They get to use dedicated circuitry, but they
still do this in such a way that vastly more intelligent birds
can't decode it, and instead have to prey in places where the
moth's design breaks down. Like up against my kitchen wall.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: Long ago I read in Scientific American (or was it
Science News?) that butterflies, flighty as they are, do follow
scent plumes to seek food. So I am not being that original. <br>
</p>
<p>My possible insight would be that they don't do this to find
stationary food (I don't know that they even can eat in this stage
of their lives), rather they do this to find similarly moving
mates. (Probably same-sex, too. A CDMA-modulated cloud of one
gender probably attracts the other gender better than a lone
chaotic moth could.) They need to be predictable (enough) to each
other, but still random to predators. Can they really adjust their
PRNGs to correlate and roughly group themselves? How the heck do
they do that?<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
I am impressed that these bugs show no caution as I try to kill
them, as though they are on suicide missions, or maybe they feel
invulnerable cloaked behind their stego navigation.<br>
<br>
<br>
-kb, the interdisciplinary Kent who can mix casual nature watching
with kinda up-to-date radio communications and cryptography.<br>
<br>
P.S. As the afternoon goes on the birds are banging into the house
more gently. I think they are perfecting their technique. Smart
birds. I left a fan on out there, I was sitting in front of it
earlier. I think that is further messing with the moths' design and
helping the birds.<br>
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