01966nas a2200193 4500008004100000022001400041245007100055210006900126260001600195520133000211653002101541653002401562653002401586653001901610653001901629100001801648700002001666856008601686 2018 eng d a1045-224900aAnthropogenic noise disrupts mate searching in Gryllus bimaculatus0 aAnthropogenic noise disrupts mate searching in Gryllus bimaculat cApr-10-20183 a
Many animals use acoustic communication as a means of sending important biological information, such as their location, to potential receivers. However, anthropogenic noise is known to affect the ability of some species to either produce or receive signals, which may influence their reproductive success. In this study, we investigate the effect of anthropogenic noise on the mate-searching behaviors of the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. To accomplish this, phonotaxis trials were conducted with female field crickets under different acoustic conditions, and their ability to detect and move towards conspecific male calls was assessed. The presence of traffic noise reduced the likelihood that the female would approach the male calls and also reduced the time that the female spent attending to the calling stimulus before making her decision. However, the presence of white noise did not reduce the likelihood of approaching the calling speaker, indicating that the average amplitude of anthropogenic noise is, alone, not important in this conflict, but frequency and fluctuations in the stimulus or other characteristics might be. This study supports the hypothesis that anthropogenic noise does indeed influence the detectability of acoustic mate location signals, thus disrupting mate searching behavior.
10aacoustic signals10aanthropogenic noise10aGryllus bimaculatus10amate searching10asexual signals1 aBent, Adam, M1 aIngs, Thomas, C uhttps://academic.oup.com/beheco/advance-article/doi/10.1093/beheco/ary126/5115667