system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: why is it that if you draw a circle around small bugs they seem to be trapped and don’t leave the circle for a while?
gpt
Insects aren't particularly bright. Further, their eyes aren't really that developed, so they navigate based mostly on scent. The act of drawing a circle, of leaving behind the graphite or the sharpie or whatever, breaks the trail of scent that they were following. Since they no longer have a trail to follow, they tend to mill around until they eventually pick it back up.