Artiotonus artius Montealegre-Z., Morris, Sarria-S. & Mason, 2011

SONG DESCRIPTION: Analysis based on recordings of seven males. At 24 ◦C, the song of this species is an un-broken wave train (a quite short very sinusoidal pulse) of 3.78 ± 0.14 ms duration (n = 7), produced by a single continuous closing stroke (Figs 17a–d). At 23.5 ◦C the calls are given at a rate of 7.6 ± 0.21 per minute (range 4–9 calls/min, n = 7, seven sound recordings of 2 minutes each were used for analysis). This low call rate equates to some 0.10–0.15 calls/s. Calls are all given in slow sequence distributed over 30 s, insects then pause for another 30 s and begin calling again (Fig. 17a). The mean sound level of the call of seven specimens was 92.70 ± 0.71 dB (SPL meter operating in fast impulse mode) as recorded at 10 cm with the microphone directed at the dorsal field of the tegmina. In one specimen the level was measured with the SPL meter operating in impulse hold mode giving an average level of 101.82 ± 0.10 dB (SPL). The spectrum peaks very narrowly at 40.6 ± 0.21 kHz (n = 7, range 40.3–40.8 kHz; Fig. 17e). Even at 30 dB below peak maximum no harmonic com- ponents of the fundamental frequency are apparent. This is among the most pure-tone of tettigoniid songs we have ever recorded (Table 2). There is only the single pulse with each cycle of wing movement; emission never occurs as a train of shorter pulses; the envelope of the pulse rises and falls over the ∼4 ms symmetrically in time. The call’s remarkable tonality is reflected in a very high-Q value, cal- culated from sound pulses to be 42.6 ± 1.3 (n = 7). In the lab, males interacted acoustically alternating calls, and the song of one evoked an acoustic response in others. But a male could be initiated in his calling by the sound (rich in ultrasonics) of a human back-sucking saliva through the teeth. [1]

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