Sound production of two endemic Oedipodinae grasshoppers from the Iberian Peninsula: Jacobsiella imitans and Leptopternis candidus lusitanicus (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

In this study, which was conducted with captive specimens kept in wooden cages and separated by sex, the sounds produced by Jacobsiella imitans (Brunner, 1882) and Leptopternis candidus lusitanicus (Ebner, 1941) (Orthoptera, Acrididae) are described. Sounds were recorded with a digital audio tape recorder; the signal was digitized and then analysed with the Avisoft® software. Two types of sound, both produced by stridulation, were recorded in these species: an interaction song, produced when specimens are disturbed by others, and a courtship song, emitted by males when mounting another individual in trying to copulate. In both species, females are mute. Data concerning the time and frequency domains of these sounds are presented. The behaviour observed by both species in nature and that displayed when interacting with other individuals and during courtship are described. The role of song as an isolation mechanism is discussed.