Cues for acoustic detection of prey: insect rustling sounds and the influence of walking substrate

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2008
Authors:Goerlitz, Greif, Siemers
Journal:Journal of Experimental Biology
Volume:211
Questão:17
Pagination:2799 - 2806
Date Published:Jan-09-2008
ISSN:0022-0949
Palavras-chave:auditory, detection distance, foraging, hearing, prey detection, sensory ecology
Abstract:

When insects walk, they generally produce sounds. These can reveal the walkers' presence and location to potential predators such as owls, bats and nocturnal primates. Additionally, predators might extract information on taxon, palatability, size or profitability from the rustling sounds. In contrast to ear morphology, hearing physiology and psychoacoustics of acoustically oriented predators, little attention has hitherto been paid to the acoustic structure and information content of prey sounds. An important element in the ecology of acoustic prey detection remained virtually unexplored: the influence of the substrate type on rustling sounds. In this study, we analysed amplitude and frequency parameters from insects walking on various natural substrates, in both Germany (Carabus beetles) and Madagascar (various beetles and cockroaches). The data show that rustling sound amplitude and frequency content depend on substrate type. On moist substrates arthropods produced less intense and less broadband rustling sounds than on dry substrates. Sound pressure level was reduced by about 6 dB, halving the detection range for the predator. For a given insect, rustling sound amplitude increased with walking speed. Finally, we found that the previously established correlation of arthropod size and rustling amplitude holds across multiple substrates. Based on these data, we provide for the first time estimates of realistic detection distances in the field. These distances range from below 1 m to over 13 m, depending on the substrate, insect mass, walking speed and background noise level. These estimates are crucial for an understanding of the foraging ecology, foraging efficiency and sensory ecology of acoustic predators.

URL:http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/doi/10.1242/jeb.019596https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1242/jeb.019596
DOI:10.1242/jeb.019596
Short Title:Journal of Experimental Biology
BioAcoustica ID: 
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith