@article {53393, title = {Anthropogenic calling sites boost the sound amplitude of~advertisement calls produced by a tropical cricket}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {142}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-08-2018}, pages = {31 - 38}, abstract = {

Acoustic signals are widely used as sexual displays to attract mates. The choice of display site can strongly influence the male call characteristics and their attractiveness to females. Males can improve the conspicuousness of their signals by increasing sound amplitude and expanding their broadcast area thereby reaching more potential mating partners and influencing female choice. Insects possess a rather limited degree of signal plasticity. To increase the intensity of their calls, insects have been known to manipulate and engineer their display locations. Mole crickets, for example, build burrows that are shaped like horns, designing the burrow such that its resonance closely matches that of their call frequency, thereby boosting sound amplitude. Tree crickets manipulate plant leaves, using them as baffles for optimal sound radiation. In this study, we show for the first time that an insect species can enhance its advertisement calls by using novel, anthropogenic environments as singing sites. During this study, the tropical cricket Anurogryllus muticus was frequently found singing beside the walls of houses, on concrete stairs or in storm drains. These locations significantly increased the sound amplitude of its calls, by an average of 13 and 7 dB SPL, respectively, as measured above and in front of the singing animals compared to the sound amplitude measured in their natural grassland habitat. To evaluate the effect of calling site choice on the male\&$\#$39;s life span, we conducted a 35-day population survey using the mark and recapture method. Our results revealed that those males that called in grassland habitat without occupying burrows had the shortest minimum life spans.

}, keywords = {acoustic signalling, active space, anthropogenic influence, display sites, increased song amplitude, mate attraction, minimum life span, singing site preference}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.021}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347218301726https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218301726?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218301726?httpAccept=text/plain}, author = {Erregger, Bettina} } @article {51466, title = {A revision of the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species group (Hemiptera:~Cicadidae: Cicadettini) with 14 new species from mainland Australia}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4340}, year = {2017}, month = {Feb-10-2019}, pages = {1}, abstract = {

The genus Myopsalta Moulds is distributed throughout much of Australia. Previous studies have associated several undescribed species with the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species complex. The present study informally divides the cicadas in the genus Myopsalta into two species groups. It provides a revision of the M. crucifera species group, which includes redescriptions of M. crucifera s. str. and M. mackinlayi (Distant). The identity of the latter species is further refined and attributed to material formerly presented under the name Myopsalta atrata (Goding \& Froggatt). In addition to the redescriptions, 14 new species belonging to the M. crucifera species group are described, including M. albiventris n. sp., M. bassiana n. sp., M. chrysopedia n. sp., M. gordoni n. sp., M. leona n. sp., M. longicauda n. sp., M. majurae n. sp., M. melanobasis n. sp., M. parvula n. sp., M. platyptera n. sp., M. riverina n. sp., M. septa n. sp., M. umbra n. sp. and M. xerograsidia n. sp. A key to species in the genus Myopsalta is provided. Standard morphological descriptions and descriptions of calling songs unique to each species are included along with a discussion on different song types in the M. crucifera species group.

}, keywords = {acoustic signalling, Auchenorrhyncha, bioacoustics, Hemiptera, identification key, mating signals, song specificity, song structure, systematic taxonomy}, issn = {1175-5326}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4340.1}, url = {https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/issue/view/zootaxa.4340.1}, author = {Lindsay W. Popple} }