Calling song and selective phonotaxis in the field crickets,Gryllus firmus andG. pennsylvanicus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Female field crickets use phonotaxis to locate males by their calling song. Male song production and female behavioural sensitivity form a pair of matched frequency filters, which in Gryllus bimaculatus are tuned to a frequency of about 4.7 kHz. Directional sensitivity is supported by an elaborate system of acoustic tracheae, which make the ears function as pressure difference receivers. As a result, phase differences between left and right sound inputs are transformed into vibration amplitude differences. Here we critically tested the hypothesis that acoustic properties of internal transmissions play a major role in tuning directional sensitivity to the calling song frequency, by measuring tympanal vibrations as a function of sound direction and frequency. Rather than sharp frequency tuning of directional sensitivity corresponding to the calling song, we found broad frequency tuning, with optima shifted to higher frequencies. These findings agree with predictions from a vector summation model for combining external and internal sounds. We show that the model provides robust directional sensitivity that is, however, broadly tuned with an optimum well above the calling song frequency. We therefore advocate that additional filtering, e.g. at a higher (neuronal) level, significantly contributes to frequency tuning of directional sensitivity.

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Wolbachia plays no role in the one-way reproductive incompatibility between the hybridizing field crickets Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus

Heredity ◽

10.1038/hdy.2008.75 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 101 (5) ◽

pp. 435-444 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

L S Maroja ◽

M E Clark ◽

R G Harrison

Keyword(s):

Field Crickets ◽

Gryllus Firmus ◽

Reproductive Incompatibility ◽

The One

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Obligately silent males sire more offspring than singers in a rapidly evolving cricket population

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2019.0198 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (7) ◽

pp. 20190198 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Justa L. Heinen-Kay ◽

Ellen M. Urquhart ◽

Marlene Zuk

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Rapid Evolution ◽

Calling Song ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Offspring Production ◽

In The Wild ◽

Sexual Traits ◽

Acoustic Experience ◽

Older Males

How sexual traits are gained and lost in the wild remains an important question in evolutionary biology. Pacific field crickets ( Teleogryllus oceanicus ) in Hawaii provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the factors facilitating evolutionary loss of a sexual signal in real time. Natural selection from an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly drove rapid evolution of a novel, silent male morph. While silent (flatwing) males enjoy protection from the fly, they face difficulty attracting mates. We tested how offspring production varies in association with three male attributes affected by the spread of flatwing: wing morph (flatwing or normal-wing), age (flatwings should survive longer than singers) and exposure to calling song during rearing (wild populations with many flatwings lack ambient calling song). Per mating event, flatwings sired more offspring than singers and older males were mounted more quickly by females when presented with standard courtship song. Despite prior work showing that male age and acoustic experience influence sperm characteristics associated with fertilization, age and song exposure had no influence on male offspring production per mating. This represents the first evidence that the silent male morph possesses a reproductive advantage that may help compensate for precopulatory barriers to mate attraction.

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Nightly and hourly rates of attraction of flying field crickets, Gryllus integer, to conspecific song

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z89-359 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 67 (10) ◽

pp. 2540-2542 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

William H. Cade

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Mating Behavior ◽

Natural Habitat ◽

Calling Song ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Central Texas ◽

Males And Females ◽

Cricket Song ◽

Gryllus Integer

Nightly and hourly rates of attraction of flying field crickets, Gryllus integer, to conspecific calling song were studied in an arena placed in the natural habitat of the species in central Texas. Calling of male G. integer in the arena and tape-recorded broadcasts of conspecific song were the sources of cricket song that subsequently attracted flying crickets. Observations were conducted for 10 h from approximately 1.5–2 h past sunset to 3 h past sunrise for 97 nights in 1983 and 1985–1988, using calling males, and for 4 nights in 1988, using taped song. The number of crickets attracted each night varied greatly, significantly more females were attracted, the numbers of males and females attracted decreased near sunrise, and significantly more crickets entered the arena from 2 to 6 h than from 7 to 11 h past sunset. Results are discussed in the context of mating behavior and sexual selection in this and other species.

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Mapping reduced introgression loci to the X chromosome of the hybridizing field crickets, Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0208498 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. e0208498

Author(s):

D. Patrick Gainey ◽

Jeremiah Y. Kim ◽

Luana S. Maroja

Keyword(s):

X Chromosome ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Gryllus Firmus

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Influence of female cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile on male courtship behavior in two hybridizing field crickets Gryllus firmus and Gryllus pennsylvanicus

BMC Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1186/s12862-020-1587-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Brianna Heggeseth ◽

Danielle Sim ◽

Laura Partida ◽

Luana S. Maroja

Keyword(s):

Courtship Behavior ◽

Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽

Mate Preference ◽

Male Courtship ◽

Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Offspring Production ◽

Gryllus Firmus ◽

Male Mate ◽

Male Courtship Behavior

Abstract Background The hybridizing field crickets, Gryllus firmus and Gryllus pennsylvanicus have several barriers that prevent gene flow between species. The behavioral pre-zygotic mating barrier, where males court conspecifics more intensely than heterospecifics, is important because by acting earlier in the life cycle it has the potential to prevent a larger fraction of hybridization. The mechanism behind such male mate preference is unknown. Here we investigate if the female cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile could be the signal behind male courtship. Results While males of the two species display nearly identical CHC profiles, females have different, albeit overlapping profiles and some females (between 15 and 45%) of both species display a male-like profile distinct from profiles of typical females. We classified CHC females profile into three categories: G. firmus-like (F; including mainly G. firmus females), G. pennsylvanicus-like (P; including mainly G. pennsylvanicus females), and male-like (ML; including females of both species). Gryllus firmus males courted ML and F females more often and faster than they courted P females (p < 0.05). Gryllus pennsylvanicus males were slower to court than G. firmus males, but courted ML females more often (p < 0.05) than their own conspecific P females (no difference between P and F). Both males courted heterospecific ML females more often than other heterospecific females (p < 0.05, significant only for G. firmus males). Conclusions Our results suggest that male mate preference is at least partially informed by female CHC profile and that ML females elicit high courtship behavior in both species. Since ML females exist in both species and are preferred over other heterospecific females, it is likely that this female type is responsible for most hybrid offspring production.

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Substrate texture affects female cricket walking response to male calling song

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.172334 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 172334 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E. J. Sarmiento-Ponce ◽

M. P. F. Sutcliffe ◽

B. Hedwig

Keyword(s):

Model Organism ◽

Behavioural Response ◽

Calling Song ◽

Mechanical Interlocking ◽

Gryllus Bimaculatus ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Female Cricket ◽

Substrate Texture ◽

Male Calling ◽

High Degree

Field crickets are extensively used as a model organism to study female phonotactic walking behaviour, i.e. their attraction to the male calling song. Laboratory-based phonotaxis experiments generally rely on arena or trackball-based settings; however, no attention has been paid to the effect of substrate texture on the response. Here, we tested phonotaxis in female Gryllus bimaculatus , walking on trackballs machined from methyl-methacrylate foam with different cell sizes. Surface height variations of the trackballs, due to the cellular composition of the material, were measured with profilometry and characterized as smooth, medium or rough, with roughness amplitudes of 7.3, 16 and 180 µm. Female phonotaxis was best on a rough and medium trackball surface, a smooth surface resulted in a significant lower phonotactic response. Claws of the cricket foot were crucial for effective walking. Females insert their claws into the surface pores to allow mechanical interlocking with the substrate texture and a high degree of attachment, which cannot be established on smooth surfaces. These findings provide insight to the biomechanical basis of insect walking and may inform behavioural studies that the surface texture on which walking insects are tested is crucial for the resulting behavioural response.

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