Chortoscirtes meruensis (Sjöstedt, 1910)

The calling song of several males recorded in the field consisted of long, uninterrupted sequences of pairs of syllables (Fig. 6; syllable repetition rate 71.9–77.5 Hz, repetition rate of syllable pairs 22.7–26 Hz; time of recording 14:00–14:30; six males; T = 26 ◦ C; animals possibly in sun). In the laboratory the rhythm of the song was distinctly slower owing to the lower temperature (Fig. 6; syllable repetition rate 46.9 Hz, repetition rate of syllable pairs 14.7 Hz; time of recording 9:30 am; duration of recording 35 s; T = 22 ◦ C; animal in shadow). As for C. serengeti , the animals produced a short song very similar to that shown in Fig. 7 for C. serengeti . Each echeme consisted of a group of 12–15 syllables (syllable repetition rate 74–79 Hz; three males; field recordings) with quite variable intervals, mostly between 0.5 and 3 s. The song could not be heard with the unaided ear, its main components being in the ultrasonic range with a variable peak frequency between 22 and 39 kHz (four males; range 10 dB below peak from 20–27 to 25–48 kHz). [1]

References