@article {53394, title = {To compete or not to compete: bushcricket song plasticity reveals male body condition and rival distance}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {142}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-08-2018}, pages = {59 - 68}, abstract = {

Males of several animals, including insects, use acoustic signals to attract a sexually receptive conspecific partner. In the orthopteran chorusing genus Poecilimon (Tettigoniidae), male signalling as well as female preference can be related to male body condition and to the social environment. Song is thought to be an honest signal of male quality, and song characteristics are therefore often important for sexual and social selection. At the same time, signal expression is plastic and this plasticity depends on the quality of the individual signaller, the acoustic components preferred by females and rivals\&$\#$39; body condition and proximity. Using the bushcricket species Poecilimon ampliatus as a model, we investigated how both internal (body condition) and external (level of competition) factors affected the expression of temporal song characteristics. We show that both factors significantly affected acoustic signalling activity: when competing against light rivals, heavy males adjusted the characteristics of their songs to different social conditions. However, light males competing against a heavy rival showed less plasticity in their acoustic signals across social conditions. During the most escalated competition, heavier males increased their acoustic signal investment up to the maximum level, signalling with longer verses and higher duty cycles, in comparison to all other treatments. Body condition and the social environment affected male acoustic signal activity, which suggests that these factors mediate the allocation of resources for signalling and different strategies adopted in competition. The adaptive plasticity of acoustic signals in this species raises new questions about the potential role that this process could play in natural choruses, where more than two competitors are signalling simultaneously.

}, keywords = {behavioural plasticity, body condition, bushcrickets, male-male competition}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.022}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347218301738https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218301738?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218301738?httpAccept=text/plain}, author = {Anichini, Marianna and Frommolt, Karl-Heinz} } @article {53143, title = {Acoustic cues for female choice and male competition in Tettigonia cantans}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {35}, year = {1987}, month = {Jan-06-1987}, pages = {887 - 900}, abstract = {

Song of the bush cricket Tettigonia cantans were analysed, and synthetic song models constructed, to reproduce both the natural variation in the song parameters and the modified spectral balance (high-frequency attenuation) seen after songs are transmitted through the natural habitat. In the laboratory, song models were replayed to female insects in a series of two-choice trials and the phonotactic response was used as the criterion for song preference. Controlling single variables in the models showed that females orientated preferentially to lower-pitched songs, louder songs and models with a relatively louder high-frequency content. Further trials confirmed song frequency to be an important cue and demonstrated spectral balance to be a more effective stimulus than intensity per se. Song models replayed in the field to established (\‘territorial\’) singing males produced different behavioural responses depending on the song frequency. To low-pitched songs, males were more likely to reduce their singing activity and move away from the sound source. High-pitched song often resulted in an increase in the singing rate and an approach to the loudspeaker. A model without the high-frequency band elicited no detectable response, the subject continuing to sing normally from the same perch. These results support the hypothesis that the spectral balance of the song can be used for range determination. The poor correlation between the measured song variables and morphology suggests that song in this species advertises the status of the male rather than other single attributes such as size or weight.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(87)80124-0}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347287801240}, author = {William Latimer and Sippel, Martin} } @article {53141, title = {Mate selection by female katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Conocephalus nigropleurum)}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {30}, year = {1982}, month = {Jan-08-1982}, pages = {734 - 738}, abstract = {

Female katydids receive a large spermatophore at mating which they subsequently eat. Available evidence indicates that spermatophore nutrients are important to female reproduction. Heavier males produce larger spermatophores. When given the choice between two singing males of different weights, females always mated with the larger individual.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(82)80145-0}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347282801450}, author = {Darryl T. Gwynne} } @article {53132, title = {Aggression in male conocephaline grasshoppers (tettigoniidae)}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {19}, year = {1971}, month = {Jan-02-1971}, pages = {132 - 137}, abstract = {

Fighting occurs under field and laboratory conditions between conspecific males of the long horn grasshoppers O. gladiator, O. vulgare and C. nigropleurum. Approaches of 90 to 180 cm by Orchelimum males culminated in venter-to-venter grappling. Such fights usually ended in the silent withdrawal of one combatant, while the other initiated steady song from the encounter site. Only singing males were approached. Stridulation appears both to trigger the approach and to serve as a navigational aid during its excution. An area is maintained around dominating males that is free of conspecific signers.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(71)80147-1}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347271801471}, author = {Glenn K. Morris} } @article {52724, title = {Calling display and mating behaviour of Copiphora rhinoceros Pictet (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {28}, year = {1980}, month = {Jan-02-1980}, pages = {42 - IN1}, abstract = {

Substrate-transmitted signals, known from scattered accounts to occur in several species of acoustic Orthoptera, are brought together and briefly reviewed. Males of a neotropical katydid, Copiphora rhinoceros, were found to alternate stereotyped bouts of body vibration (tremulation) with an 8.7-kHz air-borne song. This calling display is remarkable in combining vegetation-conducted transverse waves with stridulation. A complete acoustic analysis accompanies detailed descriptions of three field matings. Females responded to the male\&$\#$39;s display silently but with similar body shaking. Copulation lasted almost 4 h, and courtship was prolonged by repeated male withdrawals. The male\&$\#$39;s coyness probably reflects a costly nutritional investment in a single mating: his spermatophore includes a huge bilobed spermatophylax, consumed by the female after copulation.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80006-6}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347280800066}, author = {Glenn K. Morris} } @article {50501, title = {When do acoustic cues matter? Perceived competition and reproductive plasticity over lifespan in a bushcricket}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {128}, year = {2017}, month = {Jan-06-2017}, pages = {41 - 49}, abstract = {

Individuals often modify their behaviour in response to environmental cues and their own condition. Here we asked whether males modify ejaculates based on information from the sociosexual environment and their physiological age, and how those two factors may interact. We used two populations of the chorusing bushcricket, Ephippiger diurnus, to test whether males strategically adjust large, costly spermatophores they transfer to females during mating based on experience of rivals\&$\#$39; calls, and whether males change their investment strategies with age. Males broadcast highly consistent, rhythmically repeated calls of syllables in daily choruses. Populations differ in average syllable number, an important trait under selection via female preference, and females from our two populations prefer calls with more syllables than the population mean. We reared males in one of five acoustic environments that varied in call syllable number. We then mated males twice, as young and old adults, measuring spermatophore size each time. We found that acoustic experience, age and their interaction all significantly influenced male investment, resulting in reaction norms with different slopes. Young males differentially invested in spermatophores in response to acoustic experience, whereas old males generally invested in larger spermatophores across environments. We then tested for a broad pattern of age-related investment with eight different field-collected populations, finding the majority of old males significantly increased spermatophore investment. Our findings demonstrate that both environmental context and an individual\&$\#$39;s life history state influence plasticity in reproductive investment, and such adjustments may optimize their reproductive success.

}, keywords = {experience-mediated plasticity, nuptial gifts, postcopulatory sexual selection, social environment, sperm competition, terminal investment}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.03.003}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347217300751}, author = {Rebar, Darren} } @article {17237, title = {Song power, spectral distribution and female phonotaxis in the bushcricket Requena verticalis (Tettigoniidae: Orthoptera): active female choice or passive attraction}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {40}, year = {1990}, month = {Jan-07-1990}, pages = {33 - 42}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80663-3}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347205806633}, author = {Winston J. Bailey and Cunningham, R.J. and Lebel, L.} } @article {17235, title = {Song as a possible isolating mechanism in the genus Homorocoryphus (Tettigonioidea, Orthoptera)}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {19}, year = {1971}, month = {Jan-05-1971}, pages = {390 - 397}, abstract = {

The songs of four species of the genus Homorocoryphus have been recorded in the field in the central region of Uganda. The songs differed in their syllable repetition rates. The effect of artificially produced songs, bearing a close resemblance to the natural song but with a variable repetition rate, has been tested on the activity levels of virgin females of two of the species. It was found that the females responded to the species specific repetition rate. Songs of each of the four species were tested against females of the species H. flavovirens, where a species specific response was established. The implications of the syllable repetition rate and the carrier frequency in this genus was discussed and a possible role in reproductive isolation was postulated.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(71)80022-2}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347271800222}, author = {Winston J. Bailey and Robinson, David} } @article {17224, title = {Auditory acuity in the orientation behaviour of the bushcricket Pachysagella australis walker (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Saginae)}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {32}, year = {1984}, month = {Jan-08-1984}, pages = {816 - 829}, abstract = {

The female tettigoniid Pachysagella australis (Saginae) orients to the call of the conspecific with an angular acuity of \±5\°. This acuity is mediated by sound entering to the tympanic receptors through the auditory trachea and the slits exterior to the tympanic membranes. The phonokinetic response of females was filmed in an arena. The slit system was blocked on both anterior and posterior ports with the effect that the female spiralled towards the sound source; blocking the posterior slit alone reduced the auditory acuity as did the partial occlusion of the fore slit, but in both cases the female located the male. Complete blocking of the auditory spiracle caused the insect to spiral towards the unoperated side, whereas reducing the sound input to one side by some 8\–12 dB, by plugging the auditory bulla with compacted cotton wool, did not substantially affect the orientation pattern of the insect. Ablation of the tympanic organ on one side caused the female to move in a circular pattern to the unoperated side. A hypothesis is formulated whereby the female, when actively orienting to the calling male, may use the slit port system to gain a high degree of auditory acuity to sound in front of her body axis. When off target she may use the less accurate spiracular input system. This system, with its greater sensitivity to high frequency sounds, may function as an effective anti-predator warning system.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/S0003-3472(84)80158-X}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000334728480158X}, author = {Winston J. Bailey and Stephen, R.O.} } @article {16469, title = {Pair-forming acoustic systems of phaneropterine katydids (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae)}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {16}, year = {1968}, month = {Jan-04-1968}, pages = {197 - 212}, abstract = {

Acoustic signalling during pair formation is more complex in Phaneropterinae than in any other Ensifera. Lone males of most species produce more than one kind of sound, and females of all species studied produce sound during pair formation, a phenomenon with no known parallel in other Ensifera.

This report includes (1) an analysis of the singing behaviours and the descriptions of sounds of nine species of Phaneropterinae and (2) the results of numerous experiments with these species to determine the behavioural significance of their sounds. Three kinds of male-female acoustic systems occur in the species studied: (1) the male makes a particular sound, the female answers with a tick and the male goes all the way to the female, (2) the male makes one kind of sound which attracts females from a distance (but not at close-range), the male makes a second sound which the female answers with a tick and the male goes to the female from close-range, and (3) the male makes one kind of sound, the female answers with a tick, the male moves towards the female from a distance (but not all the way), and the male produces a second kind of sound which attracts the female the remaining distance. Some species produce stereotyped sequences of different kinds of sounds; different responses occur to different sounds in the sequences.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/0003-3472(68)90001-8}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0003347268900018}, author = {Spooner, John D.} }