Caledia captiva

(i) Pair formation
C. captiva was observed in the vicinity of Townsville and along the Archer River in northern Queensland. This species possesses distinctive flight sounds or crepitation (similar to Fig. 6). One or two bursts of crepitation are produced during the last portion of flight. Crepitation flights were inconspicuous, close to the ground, and, in general, similar to those of North American species of Chortophaga, which use the display to attract females (Otte 1970, p. 27).

(ii) Courtship Males performed 3-14 strokes of ordinary stridulation (a sound resembling an upslurred whistle) while approaching females (Fig. 1). The repetition rate was constant at about 4.6 pulses per sec. One male approached and circled a second male, producing 14 pulses of stridulation, and then stopped courting when the second male performed agonistic signals.

(iii) AgonisticBehaviour Both tipping and shaking movements are performed in agonistic contexts but the movements are so closely associated with one another that they may reasonably be viewed as a single signal. The downstroke in tipping is slightly faster than the upstroke and the femora are raised to between 60" and 90" from the horizontal position. This jerk is probably a modified form of shaking, and is usually given immediately after femur-tipping. Typically, tipping and shaking were produced by males touching one another or by males being approached and courted by other males.

Females rejected courting males by fleeing. Other rejection movements were not observed. [1]

References