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Madhusudhana S, Klinck H, Symes LB. Extensive data engineering to the rescue: building a multi-species katydid detector from unbalanced, atypical training datasets. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230444. [PMID: 38705172 PMCID: PMC11070257 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0444] [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: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is a powerful tool for studying ecosystems. However, its effective application in tropical environments, particularly for insects, poses distinct challenges. Neotropical katydids produce complex species-specific calls, spanning mere milliseconds to seconds and spread across broad audible and ultrasonic frequencies. However, subtle differences in inter-pulse intervals or central frequencies are often the only discriminatory traits. These extremities, coupled with low source levels and susceptibility to masking by ambient noise, challenge species identification in PAM recordings. This study aimed to develop a deep learning-based solution to automate the recognition of 31 katydid species of interest in a biodiverse Panamanian forest with over 80 katydid species. Besides the innate challenges, our efforts were also encumbered by a limited and imbalanced initial training dataset comprising domain-mismatched recordings. To overcome these, we applied rigorous data engineering, improving input variance through controlled playback re-recordings and by employing physics-based data augmentation techniques, and tuning signal-processing, model and training parameters to produce a custom well-fit solution. Methods developed here are incorporated into Koogu, an open-source Python-based toolbox for developing deep learning-based bioacoustic analysis solutions. The parametric implementations offer a valuable resource, enhancing the capabilities of PAM for studying insects in tropical ecosystems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shyam Madhusudhana
- Centre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-0001, USA
| | - Holger Klinck
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-0001, USA
| | - Laurel B. Symes
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-0001, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama City 0843-03092, Republic of Panama
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Jirik KJ, Dominguez JA, Abdulkarim I, Glaaser J, Stoian ES, Almanza LJ, Lee N. Parasitoid-host eavesdropping reveals temperature coupling of preferences to communication signals without genetic coupling. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230775. [PMID: 37583323 PMCID: PMC10427829 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0775] [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: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Receivers of acoustic communication signals evaluate signal features to identify conspecifics. Changes in the ambient temperature can alter these features, rendering species recognition a challenge. To maintain effective communication, temperature coupling-changes in receiver signal preferences that parallel temperature-induced changes in signal parameters-occurs among genetically coupled signallers and receivers. Whether eavesdroppers of communication signals exhibit temperature coupling is unknown. Here, we investigate if the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea, an eavesdropper of cricket calling songs, exhibits song pulse rate preferences that are temperature coupled. We use a high-speed treadmill system to record walking phonotaxis at three ambient temperatures (21, 25, and 30°C) in response to songs that varied in pulse rates (20 to 90 pulses per second). Total walking distance, peak steering velocity, angular heading, and the phonotaxis performance index varied with song pulse rates and ambient temperature. The peak of phonotaxis performance index preference functions became broader and shifted to higher pulse rate values at higher temperatures. Temperature-related changes in cricket songs between 21 and 30°C did not drastically affect the ability of flies to recognize cricket calling songs. These results confirm that temperature coupling can occur in eavesdroppers that are not genetically coupled with signallers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Iya Abdulkarim
- Department of Biology, St Olaf College, Northfield, MN, USA
| | | | | | | | - Norman Lee
- Department of Biology, St Olaf College, Northfield, MN, USA
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3
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Bernal XE, Page RA. Tactics of evasion: strategies used by signallers to deter eavesdropping enemies from exploiting communication systems. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:222-242. [PMID: 36176190 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Eavesdropping predators, parasites and parasitoids exploit signals emitted by their prey and hosts for detection, assessment, localization and attack, and in the process impose strong selective pressures on the communication systems of the organisms they exploit. Signallers have evolved numerous anti-eavesdropper strategies to mitigate the trade-off between the costs imposed from signal exploitation and the need for conspecific communication. Eavesdropper strategies fall along a continuum from opportunistic to highly specialized, and the tightness of the eavesdropper-signaller relationship results in differential pressures on communication systems. A wide variety of anti-eavesdropper strategies mitigate the trade-off between eavesdropper exploitation and conspecific communication. Antagonistic selection from eavesdroppers can result in diverse outcomes including modulation of signalling displays, signal structure, and evolutionary loss or gain of a signal from a population. These strategies often result in reduced signal conspicuousness and in decreased signal ornamentation. Eavesdropping enemies, however, can also promote signal ornamentation. While less common, this alternative outcome offers a unique opportunity to dissect the factors that may lead to different evolutionary pathways. In addition, contrary to traditional assumptions, no sensory modality is completely 'safe' as eavesdroppers are ubiquitous and have a broad array of sensory filters that allow opportunity for signal exploitation. We discuss how anthropogenic change affects interactions between eavesdropping enemies and their victims as it rapidly modifies signalling environments and community composition. Drawing on diverse research from a range of taxa and sensory modalities, we synthesize current knowledge on anti-eavesdropper strategies, discuss challenges in this field and highlight fruitful new directions for future research. Ultimately, this review offers a conceptual framework to understand the diverse strategies used by signallers to communicate under the pressure imposed by their eavesdropping enemies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ximena E Bernal
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 W State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Rachel A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
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4
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Dobbs OL, Talavera JB, Rossi SM, Menjivar S, Gray DA. Signaler-receiver-eavesdropper: Risks and rewards of variation in the dominant frequency of male cricket calls. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:12364-12371. [PMID: 33209294 PMCID: PMC7663976 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Signals are important for communication and mating, and while they can benefit an individual, they can also be costly and dangerous. Male field crickets call in order to attract female crickets, but gravid females of a parasitoid fly species, Ormia ochracea, are also attracted to the call and use it to pinpoint male cricket hosts. Conspicuousness of the call can vary with frequency, amplitude, and temporal features. Previous work with this system has only considered temporal variation in cricket calls, both large scale, that is, amount of calling and at what time of evening, and small scale, that is, aspects of chirp rate, pulse rate, and numbers of pulses per chirp. Because auditory perception in both crickets and flies relies on the matching of the peak frequency of the call with the peripheral sensory system, peak frequency may be subject to selection both from female crickets and from female flies. Here, we used field playbacks of four different versions of the same male Gryllus lineaticeps calling song that only differed in peak frequency (3.3, 4.3, 5.3, and 6.3 kHz) to test the relative attractiveness of the calls to female crickets and female flies. Our results clearly show that lower frequency calls enhance male safety from fly parasitism, but that the enhanced safety would come at a cost of reduced attraction of female crickets as potential mates. The results imply that eavesdropper pressure can disrupt the matched coevolution of signalers and receivers such that the common concept of matched male-female signaler-receiver coevolution may actually be better described as male-female-predator signaler-receiver-eavesdropper coevolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia L. Dobbs
- Department of BiologyCalifornia State University NorthridgeNorthridgeCAUSA
| | | | - Sarina M. Rossi
- Department of BiologyCalifornia State University NorthridgeNorthridgeCAUSA
| | - Stephanie Menjivar
- Department of BiologyCalifornia State University NorthridgeNorthridgeCAUSA
| | - David A. Gray
- Department of BiologyCalifornia State University NorthridgeNorthridgeCAUSA
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5
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Lee N, Kirtley AT, Pressman IS, Jirik KJ, Koucoulas D, Mason AC. Developing a Phonotaxis Performance Index to Uncover Signal Selectivity in Walking Phonotaxis. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Phillips JN, Ruef SK, Garvin CM, Le MLT, Francis CD. Background noise disrupts host-parasitoid interactions. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:190867. [PMID: 31598311 PMCID: PMC6774985 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The soundscape serves as a backdrop for acoustic signals dispatched within and among species, spanning mate attraction to parasite host detection. Elevated background sound levels from human-made and natural sources may interfere with the reception of acoustic signals and alter species interactions and whole ecological communities. We investigated whether background noise influences the ability of the obligate parasitoid Ormia ochracea to locate its host, the variable field cricket (Gryllus lineaticeps). As O. ochracea use auditory cues to locate their hosts, we hypothesized that higher background noise levels would mask or distract flies from cricket calls and result in a decreased ability to detect and navigate to hosts. We used a field manipulation where fly traps baited with playback of male cricket advertisement calls were exposed to a gradient of experimental traffic and ocean surf noise. We found that increases in noise amplitude caused a significant decline in O. ochracea caught, suggesting that background noise can influence parasitoid-host interactions and potentially benefit hosts. As human-caused sensory pollution increases globally, soundscapes may influence the evolution of tightly co-evolved host-parasitoid relationships. Future work should investigate whether female cricket phonotaxis towards males is similarly affected by noise levels.
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Lehmann GUC, Lakes-Harlan R. Adaptive Strategies in Life-History of Bushcrickets (Orthoptera) and Cicadas (Homoptera) to Parasitoids Pressure on Their Acoustic Communication Systems—A Case for Sociality? Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Römer H. Insect acoustic communication: The role of transmission channel and the sensory system and brain of receivers. Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Anichini M, Frommolt KH, Lehmann GU. To compete or not to compete: bushcricket song plasticity reveals male body condition and rival distance. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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10
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Chen L, Fadamiro HY. Pseudacteon Phorid Flies: Host Specificity and Impacts on Solenopsis Fire Ants. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2018; 63:47-67. [PMID: 28938082 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Human commerce has resulted in the spread of the imported fire ants, Solenopsis species, worldwide. Six species of parasitic Pseudacteon phorid flies that are highly host specific to the Solenopsis saevissima complex of Solenopsis fire ants have been successfully released in the southern United States. The presence of Pseudacteon phorid flies, in addition to having direct mortality effects on their host ants, modifies foraging behavior and disrupts interspecific competition between host species and other ant species in the community. Fire ant workers have evolved effective methods to cope with parasitism pressure, which may relieve population-level impacts of introduced phorid flies. This review focuses on the mechanisms underlying host location, host preference, and host-size selection of Pseudacteon phorid flies and highlights their direct and indirect effects on fire ant populations. Knowledge gained from parasitoid-ant interactions will enhance use of natural enemies as biological control agents for invasive social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China;
| | - Henry Y Fadamiro
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849;
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11
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Millipede Defensive Compounds Are a Double-Edged Sword: Natural History of the Millipede-Parasitic Genus Myriophora Brown (Diptera: Phoridae). J Chem Ecol 2017; 43:198-206. [PMID: 28078624 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-016-0815-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2016] [Revised: 11/09/2016] [Accepted: 12/26/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Toxic defensive secretions produced by millipedes in the orders Julida, Spirobolida, Spirostreptida, and Polydesmida are highly repellent to most vertebrate and invertebrate natural enemies, but a few insects have evolved mechanisms to overcome these defenses. We demonstrate that highly specialized parasitic phorid flies in the species-rich genus Myriophora use volatile millipede defensive compounds as kairomones for host location. Of the two predominant quinone components in the defensive blend of juliform millipedes, 2-methoxy-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone alone was sufficient to attract adult flies of both sexes; however, a combination of 2-methoxy-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone and 2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone increased attractiveness nearly threefold. We further discuss oviposition behavior, adult and larval feeding habits, life history parameters, and the potential competitive interactions between phorid flies in the genus Myriophora and other millipede-associated insects.
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Schmidt AKD, Römer H. Functional relevance of acoustic tracheal design in directional hearing in crickets. J Exp Biol 2016; 219:3294-3300. [PMID: 27591309 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.145524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Internally coupled ears (ICEs) allow small animals to reliably determine the direction of a sound source. ICEs are found in a variety of taxa, but crickets have evolved the most complex arrangement of coupled ears: an acoustic tracheal system composed of a large cross-body trachea that connects two entry points for sound in the thorax with the leg trachea of both ears. The key structure that allows for the tuned directionality of the ear is a tracheal inflation (acoustic vesicle) in the midline of the cross-body trachea holding a thin membrane (septum). Crickets are known to display a wide variety of acoustic tracheal morphologies, most importantly with respect to the presence of a single or double acoustic vesicle. However, the functional relevance of this variation is still not known. In this study, we investigated the peripheral directionality of three co-occurring, closely related cricket species of the subfamily Gryllinae. No support could be found for the hypothesis that a double vesicle should be regarded as an evolutionary innovation to (1) increase interaural directional cues, (2) increase the selectivity of the directional filter or (3) provide a better match between directional and sensitivity tuning. Nonetheless, by manipulating the double acoustic vesicle in the rainforest cricket Paroecanthus podagrosus, selectively eliminating the sound-transmitting pathways, we revealed that these pathways contribute almost equally to the total amount of interaural intensity differences, emphasizing their functional relevance in the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arne K D Schmidt
- Department of Zoology, University of Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2, Graz 8010, Austria
| | - Heiner Römer
- Department of Zoology, University of Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2, Graz 8010, Austria
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Tron N, Stölting H, Kampschulte M, Martels G, Stumpner A, Lakes-Harlan R. The Auditory System of the Dipteran Parasitoid Emblemasoma auditrix (Sarcophagidae). JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2016; 16:90. [PMID: 27538415 PMCID: PMC4989904 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iew062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Accepted: 06/23/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Several taxa of insects evolved a tympanate ear at different body positions, whereby the ear is composed of common parts: a scolopidial sense organ, a tracheal air space, and a tympanal membrane. Here, we analyzed the anatomy and physiology of the ear at the ventral prothorax of the sarcophagid fly, Emblemasoma auditrix (Soper). We used micro-computed tomography to analyze the ear and its tracheal air space in relation to the body morphology. Both tympana are separated by a small cuticular bridge, face in the same frontal direction, and are backed by a single tracheal enlargement. This enlargement is connected to the anterior spiracles at the dorsofrontal thorax and is continuous with the tracheal network in the thorax and in the abdomen. Analyses of responses of auditory afferents and interneurons show that the ear is broadly tuned, with a sensitivity peak at 5 kHz. Single-cell recordings of auditory interneurons indicate a frequency- and intensity-dependent tuning, whereby some neurons react best to 9 kHz, the peak frequency of the host's calling song. The results are compared to the convergently evolved ear in Tachinidae (Diptera).
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanina Tron
- Ag Integrative Sensory Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Justus-Liebig-University, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26, Gießen 35392, Germany (; )
| | - Heiko Stölting
- Cellular Neurobiology, Georg-August University, Schwann-Schleiden-Forschungszentrum, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, Göttingen 37077, Germany (, )
| | - Marian Kampschulte
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Gießen, Klinkstraße 33, Gießen 35392, Germany (; )
| | - Gunhild Martels
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Gießen, Klinkstraße 33, Gießen 35392, Germany (; )
| | - Andreas Stumpner
- Cellular Neurobiology, Georg-August University, Schwann-Schleiden-Forschungszentrum, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, Göttingen 37077, Germany (, )
| | - Reinhard Lakes-Harlan
- Ag Integrative Sensory Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Justus-Liebig-University, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26, Gießen 35392, Germany (; )
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Stucky BJ. Eavesdropping to Find Mates: The Function of Male Hearing for a Cicada-Hunting Parasitoid Fly, Emblemasoma erro (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2016; 16:68. [PMID: 27382133 PMCID: PMC4932889 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iew048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2016] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Females of several species of dipteran parasitoids use long-range hearing to locate hosts for their offspring by eavesdropping on the acoustic mating calls of other insects. Males of these acoustic eavesdropping parasitoids also have physiologically functional ears, but so far, no adaptive function for male hearing has been discovered. I investigated the function of male hearing for the sarcophagid fly Emblemasoma erro Aldrich, an acoustic parasitoid of cicadas, by testing the hypothesis that both male and female E. erro use hearing to locate potential mates. I found that both male and nongravid female E. erro perform phonotaxis to the sounds of calling cicadas, that male flies engage in short-range, mate-finding behavior once they arrive at a sound source, and that encounters between females and males at a sound source can lead to copulation. Thus, cicada calling songs appear to serve as a mate-finding cue for both sexes of E. erro Emblemasoma erro's mate-finding behavior is compared to that of other sarcophagid flies, other acoustic parasitoids, and nonacoustic eavesdropping parasitoids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Stucky
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, 334 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309 Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Rd, Gainesville, FL, 32611 ,
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Abstract
Insect hearing has independently evolved multiple times in the context of intraspecific communication and predator detection by transforming proprioceptive organs into ears. Research over the past decade, ranging from the biophysics of sound reception to molecular aspects of auditory transduction to the neuronal mechanisms of auditory signal processing, has greatly advanced our understanding of how insects hear. Apart from evolutionary innovations that seem unique to insect hearing, parallels between insect and vertebrate auditory systems have been uncovered, and the auditory sensory cells of insects and vertebrates turned out to be evolutionarily related. This review summarizes our current understanding of insect hearing. It also discusses recent advances in insect auditory research, which have put forward insect auditory systems for studying biological aspects that extend beyond hearing, such as cilium function, neuronal signal computation, and sensory system evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin C Göpfert
- Department of Cellular Neurobiology, University of Göttingen, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany;
| | - R Matthias Hennig
- Department of Biology, Behavioral Physiology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-10115 Berlin, Germany;
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Stucky BJ. Infection behavior, life history, and host parasitism rates of Emblemasoma erro (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), an acoustically hunting parasitoid of the cicada Tibicen dorsatus (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Zool Stud 2015; 54:e30. [PMID: 31966117 DOI: 10.1186/s40555-015-0105-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2014] [Accepted: 01/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND 'Eavesdropping' parasitoids find their hosts by homing in on the communication signals of other insects. These parasitoids often exploit chemical communication, but at least some species of the sarcophagid genusEmblemasomaeavesdropon the acoustic communications of cicadas. Despite considerable scientific interest in acoustic parasitoids, we know remarkably little about most species of Emblemasoma. To better understand the ecology and behavioral diversity of these flies, I used a combination of field and laboratory techniques to elucidate theinfection behavior and life history of E.erro,which uses the cicada Tibicen dorsatusasa host, and I also investigated parasitoid loads and parasitism rates of T.dorsatus inmultiple host populations in the central United States. RESULTS Female E. erro used the acoustic signals of male T. dorsatus as the primary means of locating hosts, but they also required physical movement by the host, usually either walking or flight, to provide visual cues for the final larviposition attack. Larvae were deposited directly on the host's integument and burrowed through intersegmental membrane to enter the host's body. On average, E. erro larvae spent 88.0 h residing inside their host before leaving to pupariate, but residence time was strongly dependent on both ambient temperature and effective clutch size. Adult flies eclosed about 18 days after pupariation. Across all study sites, the mean parasitoid load of infected male T. dorsatus was 4.97 larvae/host, and the overall parasitism rate was 26.3%. Parasitism rates and parasitoid loads varied considerably amonghost population samples, and high parasitism rates were usually associated with high parasitoid loads. CONCLUSIONS Previously, detailed information about the infection behavior, life history, and host parasitism rates of sarcophagid acoustic parasitoids was only available for one species, E. auditrix. This study reveals that the infection behavior of E. erro is quite different from that of E. auditrix and, more broadly, unlike that known for any other species of acoustic parasitoid. The life histories of these two Emblemasoma are also divergent. These differences suggest that sarcophagid acoustic parasitoids are more behaviorally and ecologically diverse than previously recognized and in need of further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Stucky
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Campus Box 334 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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17
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Insect hearing: from physics to ecology. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2015; 201:1-4. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0966-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2014] [Revised: 11/10/2014] [Accepted: 11/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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