Frequency tuning and directional sensitivity of tympanal vibrations in the field cricket
            Gryllus bimaculatus

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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Geographic variation in the calling song of the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) and its relevance to mate recognition and mate choice

Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1017/s0952836902000766 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 257 (2) ◽

pp. 163-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

M. Ferreira ◽

J. W. H. Ferguson

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Geographic Variation ◽

Mate Recognition ◽

Calling Song ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Gryllus Bimaculatus

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The calling song of the field cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus (de geer): constraints on transmission and its role in intermale competition and female choice

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/s0003-3472(88)80009-5 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 380-394 ◽

Cited By ~ 116

Author(s):

L.W. Simmons

Keyword(s):

Female Choice ◽

Calling Song ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Gryllus Bimaculatus ◽

Intermale Competition

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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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Factors that possibly influence variation in the calling song of field crickets: temperature, time, and male size, age, and wing morphology

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z92-135 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 70 (5) ◽

pp. 950-955 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Konstantine Souroukis ◽

William H. Cade ◽

Gareth Rowell

Keyword(s):

Hind Wing ◽

Calling Song ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Wing Morphology ◽

Wing Dimorphism ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Before And After ◽

Increasing Temperature ◽

Gryllus Integer ◽

Temperature Time

The structure of the calling song of the Texas field cricket, Gryllus integer, was studied. Pulse rates, percentage of missed pulses within a trill, numbers of pulses per trill or trill lengths, and intertrill intervals were measured for males singing in the field and in the laboratory. All song parameters were variable and were distributed normally. Intertrill intervals were longer in the laboratory, but all other parameters were similar in laboratory and field populations. Pulse rates varied in a linear fashion with ambient temperature in the laboratory and field. The percentage of missed pulses in a trill decreased with increasing temperature in the field and in the laboratory; intertrill intervals varied inversely with temperature only in the field. In field populations, immediately before and after sunrise male songs had fewer pulses per trill and a greater frequency of missed pulses than songs produced for a few hours following sunset. Song structure did not vary with age, weight, or hind-wing dimorphism. Most song parameters were correlated with each other. The data are discussed in terms of female choice and attraction to male song, male competition by way of acoustical interaction, and underlying genetic variation in G. integer.

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The role of neurohormonal octopamine during 'fight or flight' behaviour in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus.

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.198.8.1691 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 198 (8) ◽

pp. 1691-1700 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

S A Adamo ◽

C E Linn ◽

R R Hoy

Keyword(s):

Energy Demand ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Gryllus Bimaculatus ◽

Flight Behaviour ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Arousal System ◽

Sensory Cue ◽

Antennal Contact ◽

Fight Or Flight

Octopamine has been called the 'fight or flight' hormone of insects. We tested this hypothesis by measuring octopamine levels in the haemolymph of field crickets after fighting, flying, courting and escape behaviours. Octopamine levels in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus increased during aggressive (agonistic) behaviour from baseline levels of 4.5 +/- 2.1 pg microliters-1 haemolymph to 24.3 +/- 15.2 pg microliters-1 haemolymph, regardless of whether the cricket won or lost the encounter. Octopamine levels also increased after 5 min of flying (to 44.6 +/- 22.3 pg microliters-1) and during courtship. However, crickets did not exhibit an increase in their haemolymph octopamine levels after performing an escape run. Therefore, neurohormonal octopamine shows some, but not all, of the characteristics that would be expected if it were a component of a nonspecific 'arousal' system. Rather, octopamine may be released as a neurohormone to prepare the animal for a period of extended activity or to assist the animal in recovering from a period of increased energy demand. Antennal contact with conspecifics may provide a sensory cue that results in the release of octopamine into the haemolymph.

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Balancing Selection on Electrophoretic Variation of Phosphoglucose Isomerase in Two Species of Field Cricket: Gryllus veletis and G. pennsylvanicus

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/147.2.609 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 147 (2) ◽

pp. 609-621

Author(s):

Laura A Katz ◽

Richard G Harrison

Keyword(s):

Balancing Selection ◽

Emergent Property ◽

Phosphoglucose Isomerase ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Nucleotide Variation ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Electrophoretic Variation ◽

Sympatric Populations ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Gryllus Veletis

Two species of crickets, Gryllus veletis and G. pennsylvanicus, share six electrophoretic mobility classes for the enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), despite evidence from other genetic markers that the two species are not closely related within eastern North American field crickets. Moreover, the frequencies of the two most common PGI electrophoretic classes (PGI-100 and PGI-65) covary in sympatric populations of these species in the eastern United States, suggesting that PGI may be subject to trans-specific balancing selection. To determine the molecular basis of the electrophoretic variation, we characterized the DNA sequence of the Pgi gene from 29 crickets (15 G. veletis and 14 G. pennsylvanicus). Amino acid substitutions that distinguish the electrophoretic classes are not the same in the two species, and there is no evidence that specific replacement substitutions represent trans-specific polymorphism. In particular, the amino acids that diagnose the PGI-65 allele relative to the PGI-100 allele differ both between G. veletis and G. pennsylvanicus and within G. pennsylvanicus. The heterogeneity among electrophoretic classes that covary in sympatric populations coupled with analysis of patterns of nucleotide variation suggest that Pgi is not evolving neutrally. Instead, the data are consistent with balancing selection operating on an emergent property of the PGI protein.

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