@article {50916, title = {Quality calls: phylogeny and biogeography of a new genus of neotropical katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) with ultra pure-tone ultrasonics}, journal = {Systematics and Biodiversity}, volume = {9}, year = {2011}, month = {Sep-03-2012}, pages = {77 - 94}, abstract = {

This paper describes Artiotonus, a new genus of tropical katydid from Colombia and Ecuador. These acoustic ensiferans are represented by three species with a geographic distribution generally restricted to the rainforest of the Bolivar geosyncline of northwestern South America (Pacific). A phylogenetic analysis based on 28 morphological and six behavioural characters produced a tree (A. artius, (A. tinae, A. captivus)) with a consistency index of 0.9. All species are defined by a few autapomorphic changes. The most reliable character for identification is the temporal pattern of the calling song, suggesting a recent genetic divergence. Biogeographic analysis indicates that such genetic divergence began with geographic isolation produced before the Holocene transgression. Species of this genus are remarkable in that the calling song of males exhibits a narrow spectrum with a high quality factor (37\–42), unusual values for such ultrasonic signals. A broad discussion on the evolution of tonal calls and pulse trains is offered.

}, keywords = {Biogeography, calling song, Conocephalinae, high-Q, pure tone, ultrasound}, issn = {1477-2000}, doi = {10.1080/14772000.2011.560209}, url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14772000.2011.560209}, author = {Fernando Montealegre-Zapata and Glenn K. Morris and Sarria-S, Fabio A. and Mason, Andrew C.} } @article {50909, title = {Morphological determinants of carrier frequency signal in katydids (Orthoptera): a comparative analysis using biophysical evidence}, journal = {Journal of Evolutionary Biology}, year = {2017}, month = {Apr-09-2018}, abstract = {

Male katydids produce mating calls by stridulation using specialized structures on the forewings. The right wing (RW) bears a scraper connected to a drum-like cell known as the mirror and a left wing (LW) that overlaps the RW and bears a serrated vein on the ventral side, the stridulatory file. Sound is generated with the scraper sweeping across the file, producing vibrations that are amplified by the mirror. Using this sound generator, katydids exploit a range of song carrier frequencies (CF) unsurpassed by any other insect group, with species singing as low as 600 Hz and others as high as 150 kHz. Sound generator size has been shown to scale negatively with CF, but such observations derive from studies based on few species, without phylogenetic control, and/or using only the RW mirror length. We carried out a phylogenetic comparative analysis involving 94 species of katydids to study the relationship between LW and RW components of the sound generator and the CF of the male\&$\#$39;s mating call, while taking into account body size and phylogenetic relationships. The results showed that CF negatively scaled with all morphological measures, but was most strongly related to components of the sound generation system (file, LW and RW mirrors). Interestingly, the LW mirror (reduced and non-functional) predicted CF more accurately than the RW mirror, and body size is not a reliable CF predictor. Mathematical models were verified on known species for predicting CF in species for which sound is unknown (e.g. fossils or museum specimens).

}, doi = {10.1111/jeb.13179}, url = {http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jeb.13179}, author = {Fernando Montealegre-Zapata and Ogden, Jessica and Jonsson, Thorin and Soulsbury, Carl D.} } @article {48151, title = {Tympanal mechanics and neural responses in the ears of a noctuid moth}, journal = {Naturwissenschaften}, volume = {98}, year = {2011}, month = {Jan-12-2011}, pages = {1057 - 1061}, abstract = {

Ears evolved in many groups of moths to detect the echolocation calls of predatory bats. Although the neurophysiology of bat detection has been intensively studied in moths for decades, the relationship between sound-induced movement of the noctuid tympanic membrane and action potentials in the auditory sensory cells (A1 and A2) has received little attention. Using laser Doppler vibrometry, we measured the velocity and displacement of the tympanum in response to pure tone pulses for moths that were intact or prepared for neural recording. When recording from the auditory nerve, the displacement of the tympanum at the neural threshold remained constant across frequencies, whereas velocity varied with frequency. This suggests that the key biophysical parameter for triggering action potentials in the sensory cells of noctuid moths is tympanum displacement, not velocity. The validity of studies on the neurophysiology of moth hearing rests on the assumption that the dissection and recording procedures do not affect the biomechanics of the ear. There were no consistent differences in tympanal velocity or displacement when moths were intact or prepared for neural recordings for sound levels close to neural threshold, indicating that this and other neurophysiological studies provide good estimates of what intact moths hear at threshold.

}, keywords = {auditory threshold, Lepidoptera, moth auditory biomechanics, neurophysiology}, issn = {0028-1042}, doi = {10.1007/s00114-011-0851-7}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00114-011-0851-7}, author = {ter Hofstede, Hannah M. and Goerlitz, Holger R. and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata and Daniel Robert} } @article {47624, title = {Non-invasive biophysical measurement of travelling waves in the insect inner ear}, journal = {Royal Society Open Science}, volume = {4}, year = {2017}, month = {Jul-18-2017}, pages = {170-171}, abstract = {

Frequency analysis in the mammalian cochlea depends on the propagation of frequency information in the form of a travelling wave (TW) across tonotopically arranged auditory sensilla. TWs have been directly observed in the basilar papilla of birds and the ears of bush-crickets (Insecta: Orthoptera) and have also been indirectly inferred in the hearing organs of some reptiles and frogs. Existing experimental approaches to measure TW function in tetrapods and bush-crickets are inherently invasive, compromising the fine-scale mechanics of each system. Located in the forelegs, the bush-cricket ear exhibits outer, middle and inner components; the inner ear containing tonotopically arranged auditory sensilla within a fluid-filled cavity, and externally protected by the leg cuticle. Here, we report bush-crickets with transparent ear cuticles as potential model species for direct, non-invasive measuring of TWs and tonotopy. Using laser Doppler vibrometry and spectroscopy, we show that increased transmittance of light through the ear cuticle allows for effective non-invasive measurements of TWs and frequency mapping. More transparent cuticles allow several properties of TWs to be precisely recovered and measured in vivo from intact specimens. Our approach provides an innovative, non-invasive alternative to measure the natural motion of the sensilla-bearing surface embedded in the intact inner ear fluid.

}, doi = {10.1098/rsos.170171}, url = {http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rsos.170171https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1098/rsos.170171}, author = {Sarria-S, Fabio A. and Soulsbury, Carl D. and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata} } @article {47329, title = {Wing mechanics, vibrational and acoustic communication in a new bush-cricket species of the genus Copiphora (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Colombia}, journal = {Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology}, volume = {263}, year = {2016}, month = {Jan-07-2016}, pages = {55 - 65}, abstract = {

Male bush-crickets produce acoustic signals by wing stridulation to call females. Several species also alternate vibratory signals with acoustic calls for intraspecific communication, a way to reduce risk of detection by eavesdropping predators. Both modes of communication have been documented mostly in neotropical species, for example in the genus Copiphora. In this article, we studied vibratory and acoustic signals and the biophysics of wing resonance in Copiphora vigorosa, a new species from the rainforest of Colombia. Different from other Copiphora species in which the acoustic signals have been properly documented as pure tones, C. vigorosa males produce a complex modulated broadband call peaking at ca. 30 kHz. Since males of this species do rarely sing, we also report that substratum vibrations have been adopted in this species as a persistent communication channel. Wing resonances and substratum vibrations were measured using a \μ-scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry. We found that the stridulatory areas of both wings exhibit a relatively broad-frequency response and the combined vibration outputs fits with the calling song spectrum breadth. The broadband calling song spectrum results from several wing resonances activated simultaneously during stridulation. Under laboratory conditions the calling song duty cycle is very low and males spend more time tremulating than singing.

}, keywords = {bioacoustics, biotremology, bush-cricket, laser Doppler vibrometer, resonance, tremulation, ultrasound}, issn = {00445231}, doi = {10.1016/j.jcz.2016.04.008}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0044523116300584}, author = {Sarria-S, Fabio A. and Buxton, Kallum and Jonsson, Thorin and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata} } @article {47305, title = {Convergent Evolution Between Insect and Mammalian Audition}, journal = {Science}, volume = {338}, year = {2012}, month = {Apr-15-20122141}, pages = {968 - 971}, issn = {0036-8075}, doi = {10.1126/science.1225271}, url = {http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.1225271https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1126/science.1225271}, author = {Fernando Montealegre-Zapata and Jonsson, T. and Robson-Brown, K. A. and Postles, M. and Daniel Robert} } @article {20919, title = {Functional morphology of tegmina-based stridulation in the relict species Cyphoderris monstrosa (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Prophalangopsidae)}, journal = {The Journal of Experimental Biology}, volume = {220}, year = {2017}, month = {Dec-28-20172143}, pages = {1112 - 1121}, abstract = {

Male grigs, bush crickets and crickets produce mating calls by tegminal stridulation: the scraping together of modified forewings functioning as sound generators. Bush crickets (Tettigoniidae) and crickets (Gryllinae) diverged some 240 million years ago, with each lineage developing unique characteristics in wing morphology and the associated mechanics of stridulation. The grigs (Prophalangopsidae), a relict lineage more closely related to bush crickets than to crickets, are believed to retain plesiomorphic features of wing morphology. The wing cells widely involved in sound production, such as the harp and mirror, are comparatively small, poorly delimited and/or partially filled with cross-veins. Such morphology is similarly observed in the earliest stridulating ensiferans, for which stridulatory mechanics remains poorly understood. The grigs, therefore, are of major importance to investigate the early evolutionary stages of tegminal stridulation, a critical innovation in the evolution of the Orthoptera. The aim of this study is to appreciate the degree of specialization on grig forewings, through identification of sound radiating areas and their properties. For well-grounded comparisons, homologies in wing venation (and associated areas) of grigs and bush crickets are re-evaluated. Then, using direct evidence, this study confirms the mirror cell, in association with two other areas (termed \‘neck\’ and \‘pre-mirror\’), as the acoustic resonator in the grig Cyphoderris monstrosa. Despite the use of largely symmetrical resonators, as found in field crickets, analogous features of stridulatory mechanics are observed between C. monstrosa and bush crickets. Both morphology and function in grigs represents transitional stages between unspecialized forewings and derived conditions observed in modern species.

}, issn = {0022-0949}, doi = {10.1242/jeb.153106}, url = {http://jeb.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.153106https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1242/jeb.153106}, author = {B{\'e}thoux, Olivier and Sarria-S, Fabio A. and Jonsson, Thorin and Mason, Andrew C. and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata} } @article {12664, title = {Shrinking Wings for Ultrasonic Pitch Production: Hyperintense Ultra-Short-Wavelength Calls in a New Genus of Neotropical Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {9}, year = {2014}, month = {May-06-2014}, pages = {e98708}, abstract = {

This article reports the discovery of a new genus and three species of predaceous katydid (Insecta: Orthoptera) from Colombia and Ecuador in which males produce the highest frequency ultrasonic calling songs so far recorded from an arthropod. Male katydids sing by rubbing their wings together to attract distant females. Their song frequencies usually range from audio (5 kHz) to low ultrasonic (30 kHz). However, males of Supersonus spp. call females at 115 kHz, 125 kHz, and 150 kHz. Exceeding the human hearing range (50 Hz\–20 kHz) by an order of magnitude, these insects also emit their ultrasound at unusually elevated sound pressure levels (SPL). In all three species these calls exceed 110 dB SPL rms re 20 m Pa (at 15 cm). Males of Supersonus spp. have unusually reduced forewings (,0.5 mm 2 ). Only the right wing radiates appreciable sound, the left bears the file and does not show a particular resonance. In contrast to most katydids, males of Supersonus spp. position and move their wings during sound production so that the concave aspect of the right wing, underlain by the insect dorsum, forms a contained cavity with sharp resonance. The observed high SPL at extreme carrier frequencies can be explained by wing anatomy, a resonant cavity with a membrane, and cuticle deformation.

}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0098708}, url = {http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098708}, author = {Sarria-S, Fabio A. and Glenn K. Morris and James F.C. Windmill and Joseph Curt Jackson and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata}, editor = {Etges, William J.} } @article {11175, title = {Ultrasonic reverse stridulation in the spider-like katydid Arachnoscelis (Orthoptera: Listrosceledinae)}, journal = {Bioacoustics}, volume = {23}, year = {2014}, month = {Feb-01-2014}, pages = {67 - 77}, abstract = {

This paper illustrates the biomechanics of sound production in the neotropical predaceous katydid Arachnoscelis arachnoides (Insecta: Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Described and previously known from only one male specimen, this genus of predaceous katydids resembles spiders in their general body appearance. To call distant females, male katydids produce songs by stridulation where one forewing possessing a sclerotized file rubs against a row of teeth (scraper) on the other wing. In most katydid species, the songs are produced during the wing-closing phase of the stridulation. Morphological comparative studies of the stridulatory apparatus of the type specimen of Arachnoscelis arachnoides and males of other closely related species suggest that this insect sings with a frequency of ca. 80 kHz to attract conspecific females. We found an abundant population of A. arachnoides in Central Northeast of Colombia and undertook a complete analysis of the biomechanics of stridulation in this species. Using ultrasound-sensitive equipment and high-speed video, we determined that male A. arachnoides sing at ca. 74 kHz and use elastic energy and wing deformation to reach such ultrasonic frequencies. In contrast to most katydids, males of this species produce their calls during the opening phase of the wing; this form of stridulation is discussed.

}, keywords = {biomechanics, Colombia, elastic energy, stridulation, ultrasound}, issn = {0952-4622}, doi = {10.1080/09524622.2013.816639}, url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09524622.2013.816639}, author = {Benedict D. Chivers and Jonsson, Thorin and Cadena-Castaneda, Oscar J. and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata} } @article {11173, title = {Panoploscelis specularis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae): extraordinary female sound generator, male description, male protest and calling signals}, journal = {Journal of Orthoptera Research}, volume = {12}, year = {2003}, month = {Jan-12-2003}, pages = {173 - 181}, abstract = {

Females of Panoploscelis specularis present a dramatic modification of their forewings for stridulation. The female generator is illustrated and its distinct form contrasted with that of males. The physical form of the signals that females might produce is inferred; male calling and protest signals are characterized. The male of P. specularis is described for the first time.

}, keywords = {acoustics, Colombia, defense, Ecuador, katydid, stridulation}, issn = {1082-6467}, doi = {10.1665/1082-6467(2003)012[0173:PSOTPE]2.0.CO;2}, url = {http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1665/1082-6467\%282003\%29012\%5B0173\%3APSOTPE\%5D2.0.CO\%3B2}, author = {Fernando Montealegre-Zapata and Guerra, Patrick A. and Glenn K. Morris} } @article {11172, title = {Wing stridulation in a Jurassic katydid (Insecta, Orthoptera) produced low-pitched musical calls to attract females}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume = {109}, year = {2012}, month = {Jun-03-2012}, pages = {3868 - 3873}, abstract = {

Behaviors are challenging to reconstruct for extinct species, particularly the nature and origins of acoustic communication. Here we unravel the song of Archaboilus musicus Gu, Engel and Ren sp. nov., a 165 million year old stridulating katydid. From the exceptionally preserved morphology of its stridulatory apparatus in the forewings and phylogenetic comparison with extant species, we reveal that A. musicus radiated pure-tone (musical) songs using a resonant mechanism tuned at a frequency of 6.4 kHz. Contrary to previous scenarios, musical songs were an early innovation, preceding the broad-bandwidth songs of extant katydids. Providing an accurate insight into paleoacoustic ecology, the low-frequency musical song of A. musicus was well-adapted to communication in the lightly cluttered environment of the mid-Jurassic forest produced by coniferous trees and giant ferns, suggesting that reptilian, amphibian, and mammalian insectivores could have also heard A. musicus\&$\#$39; song.

}, keywords = {biological asymmetry, biomechanics, bushcricket, call evolution, Tettigoniidae}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1118372109}, url = {http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1118372109}, author = {Gu, J.-J. and Fernando Montealegre-Zapata and Daniel Robert and Engel, M. S. and Qiao, G.-X. and Ren, D.} }