@article {58414, title = {Complex courtship in the Habronattus clypeatus group (Araneae: Salticidae)}, journal = {The Journal of Arachnology}, volume = {48}, year = {2020}, month = {Jan-12-2020}, doi = {10.1636/JoA-S-18-04510.1636/JoA-S-18-045.s11}, url = {https://bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-48/issue-3/JoA-S-18-045/Complex-courtship-in-the-Habronattus-clypeatus-group-Araneae-Salticidae/10.1636/JoA-S-18-045.full}, author = {Rivera, Christine and Hedin, Marshal and Mason, Andrew C. and Maddison, Wayne P. and Elias, Damian O.} } @article {53306, title = {Substrate-Borne Vibration Mediates Intrasexual Agonism in the New Zealand Cook Strait Giant Weta (Deinacrida rugosa)}, journal = {Journal of Insect Behavior}, year = {2018}, month = {Dec-11-2018}, abstract = {

Substrate-borne vibrational communication is a common mode of information transfer in many invertebrate groups, with vibration serving as both primary and secondary signal channels in Orthopterans. The Cook Strait giant weta, Deinacrida rugosa (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae), is an endangered New Zealand insect whose communication system has not been previously described. After field observations of intraspecific interactions in D. rugosa provided preliminary evidence for substrate-borne vibrational communication in the species, we sought to identify the following: vibrational signal structure, the mechanism of signal production, whether signal production is a sexually dimorphic trait, whether substrate-borne signals encode information regarding sender size, the primary social context in which vibration is utilized and finally, the function of vibrational signaling in the species. We used laser Doppler vibrometry to show that D. rugosa males produce low frequency (DF\ =\ 37.00\ \±\ 1.63 Hz) substrate-borne vibrations through dorso-ventral tremulation. Rarely produced by females, male signals appear to target rivals while both are in the direct physical presence of a female. Tremulatory responses to playbacks were only produced by males in male-male-female trial contexts, and neither sex exhibited walking vibrotaxis to playback signals, indicating that substrate-borne vibrational signals are not likely a component of the courtship repertoire. While we found that vibrational signal structure was not closely related to signaler size, males that initiated male-male signaling bouts held a significant advantage in contests.

}, keywords = {Agonism, Deinacrida rugosa, giant weta, seismic signals, substrate-borne signals, vibrational communication}, issn = {0892-7553}, doi = {10.1007/s10905-018-9700-2}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10905-018-9700-2}, author = {Howard, Daniel R. and Schmidt, Ashley P. and Hall, Carrie L. and Mason, Andrew C.} } @article {53110, title = {Marking by elytral clip changes stridulatory characteristics and reduces reproduction in the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus}, journal = {Journal of Insect Conservation}, volume = {19}, year = {2015}, month = {Jan-02-2015}, pages = {155 - 162}, abstract = {

Some insects produce and use sound during multiple behaviors including many aspects of reproduction. Variation in call structure depends on the evolved mor- phological structures used to produce the sound and encode function. Beetles in the genus Nicrophorus produce strid- ulation by rubbing plectra, located on the ventral side of the elytra, against a pars stridens, located on the caudal end on the fourth and fifth abdominal segment in females and males, respectively. During field surveys for the endan- gered N. americanus, survey crews have historically used a small V-shaped notch cut in the caudal end of the right elytron to serves as a permanent marking method. No study, however, has examined the effect of this marking technique on the characters of stridulation or consequences
for reproductive behavior and fitness. Here we show that one temporal and one spectral character of sound change significantly following elytron clipping, and that repro- ductive success is significantly decreased in all breedings in which a parent beetle is elytron-clipped. We recommend replacement of this marking technique with non-invasive methods to ensure conservation of this endangered species.

}, keywords = {bioacoustics, Elytron clipping, Marking technique, Nicrophorus americanus, stridulation}, issn = {1366-638X}, doi = {10.1007/s10841-015-9755-8}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10841-015-9755-8}, author = {Hall, Carrie L. and Howard, Daniel R. and Smith, Rosemary J. and Mason, Andrew C.} } @article {53107, title = {Description of Acoustic Characters and Stridulatory Pars Stridens of Nicrophorus (Coleoptera: Silphidae): A Comparison of Eight North American Species}, journal = {Annals of the Entomological Society of America}, volume = {106}, year = {2013}, month = {Jan-09-2013}, pages = {661 - 669}, abstract = {

Insects make use of sound in a variety of behavioral and reproductive contexts. Acoustic signals are known to serve in defense, sexual advertisement, prey location, and in cooperative activities such as offspring care and group foraging. In airborne signals produced by insects, information associated with species identi\Þcation is often related to the temporal structure of the sound, while spectral quality is more closely associated with intraspeci\Þc variation. The Nicrophorine burying beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Silphidae) are a group known to produce sound through dorso-ventro stridulation, but the bioacoustics of this group remains understudied. Here, we examine the stridu- latory sound produced by eight North American species of Nicrophorus burying beetles, testing the hypothesis that interspeci\Þc differences will be encoded in temporal characteristics of the sound, and that signal divergence will be explained by one of three mechanisms: selection as an intraspeci\Þc signal, selection for interspeci\Þc aposematism, or random divergence through drift. We digitally recorded stridulation in each species, and analyzed recordings to describe each in respect to four spectral and eight temporal acoustic characters. All species produced a low amplitude biphastic sound pulse consisting of from 58 to 126 syllables, and exhibiting weak dominant frequencies (5.8\Ð12.7 kHz). Collapsing the 12 variables into three rotated factors using principal component analysis, we found no sex-related differences in sound, but signi\Þcant interspecies divergence in respect to all three factors. We constructed a phylogeny for the group based on the morphology of the stridulatory structures and the acoustic characters, and found weak support for an intraspeci\Þc signal divergence model.

}, keywords = {bioacoustics, burying beetle, Nicrophorus, sound production, stridulation}, issn = {00138746}, doi = {10.1603/AN13001}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article-lookup/doi/10.1603/AN13001}, author = {Hall, Carrie L. and Mason, Andrew C. and Howard, Daniel R. and Padhi, Abinash and Smith, Rosemary J.} } @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 {47652, title = {Hearing sensitivity is more relevant to acoustic conspicuousness than to mechanical constraints in crambid moths}, journal = {Biological Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {121}, year = {2017}, month = {May-08-2017}, pages = {174 - 184}, abstract = {

Moths evolved tympanal hearing organs to detect the echolocation calls of predatory bats. Moths\’ auditory responses have been examined mainly for their sensitivity to the frequencies of bat cries: tympanate moths are basically tuned to the call frequencies of sympatric bats. Here, we add the finding that hearing sensitivity to \‘pulse duration\’ in cram- bid moths is also affected by predation pressure from echolocating bats. Analysis of interspecific variation showed that minimum auditory thresholds had a significantly negative relationship with the forewing surface area, that is, acoustic conspicuousness to bat sonar, but no relationship with head width, which was assumed to correlate with tympanal organ size. Auditory thresholds increased as pulses shortened in the 1\–10 ms duration range, and conspic- uous moths with larger wing areas had lower thresholds than smaller moths. By contrast, \‘intraspecific\’ variation, within a single population of the lurcerne moth, revealed no relationship between forewing area and any auditory characteristics. Moth hearing adapts to the echolocation pulse duration of sympatric bat communities, suggesting that evolutionary modification of hearing sensitivity is related to acoustic conspicuousness based on moth wing area.

}, keywords = {arms race, echolocation, predator{\textendash}prey interactions, ultrasound}, issn = {0024-4066}, doi = {10.1093/biolinnean/blw029}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biolinnean/blw029}, author = {Nakano, Ryo and Mason, Andrew C.} } @article {47297, title = {Auditory processing in the black-sided meadow katydid Conocephalus nigropleurum (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {164}, year = {1989}, month = {Jan-01-1989}, pages = {501 - 512}, abstract = {

1. The auditory system of the tettigoniid,Conocephalus nigropleurum was examined using whole auditory nerve responses (averaged summed action potentials (SAPs)) and intracellularly recorded single cells (receptor and interneurone) to pure tone stimuli and con- and heterospecific (C. brevipennis) songs.

2.The morphology of the auditory tracheal system and crista acustica is documented forC. nigropleurum. A broadly open thoracic spiracle (stigma) leads, via a horn, camera and foreleg trachea to a crista acustica of 28 receptor cells.

3. C. nigropleurum\&$\#$39;s auditory sensitivity is broadly tuned to 15\–35 kHz which is below the peak frequency band of its calling song (30\–36 kHz). The ear possesses a dynamic range of at least 30 dB and pulsed sounds with short (\<0.5 ms) onset times or long interpulse periods (\>200 ms) elicit maximal responses. We suggest this is caused by increased auditory receptor firing synchrony to these types of sounds and may facilitate the location of such sounds. There is, however, discrepancy between the pulse periods that elicit maximal SAP amplitudes and those found within the normal calling song, a phenomenon which may be related to the chorusing behaviour of this species.

4.Polar directional plots indicate thatC. nigropleurum is most sensitive to sounds originating posterior to the opening of the prothoracic auditory stigma; this may be caused by the configuration of the prothoracic pronotum. We found no pronounced sensitivity at points facing the tympanal slits.

5.Intracellular recordings reveal prothoracic receptors with widely decussate and narrowly branched termini. No receptor tested was able to track the intra-phonatome pulses (tooth strike sounds) of either species and we conclude that the phonatome is the finest resoluble component of the song.

6. An acoustically-activated interneurone (101) was recorded that resembles both the gryllid int-2 (Omega) cell and that of another tettigoniid. We suggest that tonic interneuronal firing caused by the multiple singer chorused song of either species activates the initial stages of phonotaxis in receptiveC. nigropleurum females but individual species recognition may depend at least partially on the discrimination of phonatome rates.

}, issn = {0340-7594}, doi = {10.1007/BF00610444}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF00610444}, author = {Fullard, James H. and Glenn K. Morris and Mason, Andrew C.} } @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} }