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Levy K, Barnea A, Tauber E, Ayali A. Crickets in the spotlight: exploring the impact of light on circadian behavior. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:267-279. [PMID: 38252321 PMCID: PMC10994875 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01686-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Crickets serve as a well-established model organism in biological research spanning various fields, such as behavior, physiology, neurobiology, and ecology. Cricket circadian behavior was first reported over a century ago and prompted a wealth of studies delving into their chronobiology. Circadian rhythms have been described in relation to fundamental cricket behaviors, encompassing stridulation and locomotion, but also in hormonal secretion and gene expression. Here we review how changes in illumination patterns and light intensity differentially impact the different cricket behaviors as well as circadian gene expression. We further describe the cricket's circadian pacemaker. Ample anatomical manipulations support the location of a major circadian pacemaker in the cricket optic lobes and another in the central brain, possibly interconnected via signaling of the neuropeptide PDF. The cricket circadian machinery comprises a molecular cascade based on two major transcriptional/translational negative feedback loops, deviating somewhat from the canonical model of Drosophila and emphasizing the significance of exploring alternative models. Finally, the nocturnal nature of crickets has provided a unique avenue for investigating the repercussions of artificial light at night on cricket behavior and ecology, underscoring the critical role played by natural light cycles in synchronizing cricket behaviors and populations, further supporting the use of the cricket model in the study of the effects of light on insects. Some gaps in our knowledge and challenges for future studies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keren Levy
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
| | - Anat Barnea
- Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, 4353701, Ra'anana, Israel
| | - Eran Tauber
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, 3103301, Haifa, Israel
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
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Woodrow C, Celiker E, Montealegre-Z F. An Eocene insect could hear conspecific ultrasounds and bat echolocation. Curr Biol 2023; 33:5304-5315.e3. [PMID: 37963458 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Hearing has evolved independently many times in the animal kingdom and is prominent in various insects and vertebrates for conspecific communication and predator detection. Among insects, katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) ears are unique, as they have evolved outer, middle, and inner ear components, analogous in their biophysical principles to the mammalian ear. The katydid ear consists of two paired tympana located in each foreleg. These tympana receive sound externally on the tympanum surface (usually via pinnae) or internally via an ear canal (EC). The EC functions to capture conspecific calls and low frequencies, while the pinnae passively amplify higher-frequency ultrasounds including bat echolocation. Together, these outer ear components provide enhanced hearing sensitivity across a dynamic range of over 100 kHz. However, despite a growing understanding of the biophysics and function of the katydid ear, its precise emergence and evolutionary history remains elusive. Here, using microcomputed tomography (μCT) scanning, we recovered geometries of the outer ear components and wings of an exceptionally well-preserved katydid fossilized in Baltic amber (∼44 million years [Ma]). Using numerical and theoretical modeling of the wings, we show that this species was communicating at a peak frequency of 31.62 (± 2.27) kHz, and we demonstrate that the ear was biophysically tuned to this signal and to providing hearing at higher-frequency ultrasounds (>80 kHz), likely for enhanced predator detection. The results indicate that the evolution of the unique ear of the katydid, with its broadband ultrasonic sensitivity and analogous biophysical properties to the ears of mammals, emerged in the Eocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlie Woodrow
- University of Lincoln, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Green Lane, Lincoln LN6 7DL, UK; Uppsala University, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18 D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Emine Celiker
- University of Dundee, Division of Mathematics, School of Science and Engineering, Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK; University of Leicester, School of Engineering, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Fernando Montealegre-Z
- University of Lincoln, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Green Lane, Lincoln LN6 7DL, UK.
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Tan MK, Robillard T, ter Hofstede H. The circadian calling activity of a lebinthine cricket with high-frequency calls is unaffected by cicada choruses in the day. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14641. [PMID: 36650831 PMCID: PMC9840852 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Many factors can influence circadian rhythms in animals. For acoustically communicating species, both abiotic cues (such as light and temperature) and biotic cues (such as the activity of other animals), can influence the timing of signalling activity. Here we compare the 24-h singing activity of the cricket Lebinthus luae in the laboratory and field to assess whether the presence of other singing insects influences circadian rhythm. Methods Acoustic monitors were placed in four localities in Singapore and the number of L. luae calls were counted for 10 min of each hour. Individuals from the same localities were captured and recorded in the laboratory in silence but with similar abiotic conditions (temperature and light cycle) as they experience in the field, and the number of calls over 24 h was quantified. Results The 24-h pattern of L. luae singing was not significantly different between laboratory and field recordings. Singing activity peaked in the morning, with a secondary peak in the afternoon and a smaller peak at night. In the field, L. luae sang in the same locations and at the same time as diurnally singing cicadas, suggesting that the sympatric cicada chorus did not affect the circadian rhythm of communication in this species. Acoustic niche partitioning could potentially explain the ability of this cricket to call alongside cicadas: L. luae sings at higher frequencies than sympatric cicadas, unlike nocturnally singing cricket species that overlap with cicadas in frequency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Kai Tan
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, SU, EPHE, UA, Paris, France
| | - Tony Robillard
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, SU, EPHE, UA, Paris, France
| | - Hannah ter Hofstede
- Dartmouth College, Department of Biological Sciences, New Hampshire, United States of America,Graduate Program in Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, United States of America
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Kernan CE, Jones JS, Robillard T, Schöneich S, ter Hofstede HM. Efficacy constraints on female directional preference stabilize a male call component in a multimodal cricket duet. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Ballesteros AR, Tan MK, Robillard T. Phenotypic plasticity of acoustic traits in high-frequency lebinthine crickets (Orthoptera: Eneopterinae: Lebinthina). Naturwissenschaften 2022; 109:29. [PMID: 35622169 PMCID: PMC9136203 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-022-01800-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Driven by natural and sexual selection, calling behaviours and call parameters can vary within and between individuals. Phenotypic plasticity can be influenced by environmental conditions (e.g., temperature), size, body condition, and age. Crickets have been classic model organisms for studying the evolution of acoustic communication, but previous studies have focused on field crickets, for which males call at a low frequency, while females exhibit phonotaxis. This study holistically investigated the plasticity of calling behaviours and call parameters across a temperature gradient in a species of lebinthine crickets and examined plasticity between and within individuals. These crickets exhibit a unique communication system, including males calling at a near-ultrasonic frequency while actively searching for females. Ten recording assays at different temperatures were done on males of different sizes and body conditions, half of the assays when the males first became adults and another half 1 month later. Size, body condition, and age group of male crickets, as well as the ambient temperature, had different effects on different calling behaviours (e.g., number of songs produced) and call parameters (e.g., call duration, trill syllable period), even when the acoustic traits were correlated. The crickets also exhibited acclimatisation to the experimental conditions in their calling behaviours and acoustic traits to repeated assays. We also found that calling behaviours were less repeatable than temporal call parameters (e.g., call duration, trill duration), which in turn, were less repeatable than the spectral call parameter (dominant frequency).
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Tan MK, Robillard T. Highly diversified circadian rhythms in the calling activity of eneopterine crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Gryllidae) from Southeast Asia. BIOACOUSTICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2021.1973562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ming Kai Tan
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution et Biodiversité (ISYEB, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, SU, EPHE, UA, Paris, France
| | - Tony Robillard
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution et Biodiversité (ISYEB, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, SU, EPHE, UA, Paris, France
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Vibrational signalling, an underappreciated mode in cricket communication. Naturwissenschaften 2021; 108:41. [PMID: 34480654 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-021-01749-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Signalling via substrate vibration represents one of the most ubiquitous and ancient modes of insect communication. In crickets (Grylloidea) and other taxa of tympanate Ensifera, production and detection of acoustic and vibrational signals are closely linked functionally and evolutionarily. Male stridulation produces both acoustic and vibrational signal components, the joint perception of which improves song recognition and female orientation towards the signaller. In addition to stridulation, vibrational signalling mainly through body tremulation and/or drumming with body parts on the substrate has long been known to be part of crickets' close-range communication, including courtship, mate guarding and aggression. Such signalling is typically exhibited by males, independently or in conjunction with stridulation, and occurs literally in all cricket lineages and species studied. It is further also part of the aggressive behaviour of females, and in a few cricket groups, females respond vibrationally to acoustic and/or vibrational signals from males. The characteristics and function of these signals have remained largely unexplored despite their prevalence. Moreover, the communication potential and also ubiquity of cricket vibrational signals are underappreciated, limiting our understanding of the function and evolution of the cricket signalling systems. By providing a concise review of the existing knowledge of cricket perception of vibrations and vibrational signalling behaviour, we critically comment on these views, discuss the communication value of the emitted signals and give some methodological advice respecting their registration and control. The review aims to increase awareness, understanding and research interest in this ancient and widespread signalling mode in cricket communication.
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