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

1995 ◽  
Vol 198 (8) ◽  
pp. 1691-1700 ◽  
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.

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

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (128) ◽  
pp. 20170035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Lankheet ◽  
Uroš Cerkvenik ◽  
Ole N. Larsen ◽  
Johan L. van Leeuwen
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Calling Song ◽  
Field Cricket ◽  
Directional Sensitivity ◽  
Gryllus Bimaculatus ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Song Frequency ◽  
Phase Differences

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.

scholarly journals Field crickets change mating preferences using remembered social information

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan W. Bailey ◽  
Marlene Zuk
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Field Cricket ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
The Social ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Ornament Evolution ◽  
Male Ornaments

Plasticity in female mate choice can fundamentally alter selection on male ornaments, but surprisingly few studies have examined the role of social learning in shaping female mating decisions in invertebrates. We used the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus to show that females retain information about the attractiveness of available males based on previous social experience, compare that information with incoming signals and then dramatically reverse their preferences to produce final, predictable, mating decisions. Male ornament evolution in the wild may depend much more on the social environment and behavioural flexibility through learning than was previously thought for non-social invertebrates. The predictive power of these results points to a pressing need for theoretical models of sexual selection that incorporate effects of social experience.

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

Genetics ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Saving energy in residential buildings: the role of energy pricing

2021 ◽  
Vol 167 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Ewald ◽  
Thomas Sterner ◽  
Eoin Ó Broin ◽  
Érika Mata
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Income Elasticity ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Residential Energy ◽  
Residential Energy Demand ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Zero Carbon

AbstractA zero-carbon society requires dramatic change everywhere including in buildings, a large and politically sensitive sector. Technical possibilities exist but implementation is slow. Policies include many hard-to-evaluate regulations and may suffer from rebound mechanisms. We use dynamic econometric analysis of European macro data for the period 1990–2018 to systematically examine the importance of changes in energy prices and income on residential energy demand. We find a long-run price elasticity of −0.5. The total long-run income elasticity is around 0.9, but if we control for the increase in income that goes towards larger homes and other factors, the income elasticity is 0.2. These findings have practical implications for climate policy and the EU buildings and energy policy framework.

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