Calling and courtship songs of the rare, robust ground cricket, Allonemobius walkeri

Abstract

In the original description of Allonemobius walkeri Howard & Furth, 1986, the authors describe the species’ calling songs in a table that included trill length, length of the interval between trills, pulse rate, and carrier frequency for four individuals. Further investigation of the acoustics of this species reveals that the calling songs are composed of syllables organized into echemes composed of a varying number of syllables, and organized into groups of echemes, of variable length. The echemes are separated by intervals of various lengths. The calling song is pleasing to the ear, with ~27 syllables per second and a carrier frequency of ~7.7 kHz at 25°C. The characteristics of the echemes and echeme intervals are significantly different when the cricket is singing in sunlight compared to darkness. In sunlight, echemes are shorter, but echeme intervals are longer. There is no effect on calling bout lengths. Courtship songs are quieter than calling songs, with a random delivery of soft and loud chirps in addition to fainter, rhythmic sounds randomly distributed between the chirps. Courtship songs are interspersed with long bouts of calling songs with displays lasting hours.

Substrate-borne vibrations used during acoustic communication and the existence of courtship songs in some species of the genus Anaxipha (Saussure) (Orthoptera: Trigonidiidae: Trigonidiinae)

“…Males and females of A. exigua (Say, 1825), A. tinnulacita Walker & Funk, 2014, A. tinnulenta Walker & Funk, 2014, and A. thomasi Walker & Funk, 2014 were collected in August and September during the years of 2019 and 2020 from appropriate habitats (shrubs, coarse weeds, and grasses at the edges or the understory of deciduous woods) in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia, USA. As in Hershberger (2021), all specimens were maintained in plastic containers that were modified by removing most of the plastic from the sides and lid. The open areas were then covered with no-see-um netting held in place with high-temperature hot glue.…”