Female reply strategies in a duetting Australian bushcricket,Caediciasp. (Phaneropterinae: Tettigoniidae: Orthoptera)

Abstract

SUMMARY Duetting is common between the sexes of phaneropterine bushcrickets(Phaneropterinae: Tettigoniidae: Orthoptera). In this paper we describe the complex duet of an undescribed Australian species within the genus Caedicia. The male's call consists of three parts, of which the final part contains information of the species' identity and most reliably elicits the female's response. The timing of her reply usually occurs within a period of about 1 s after the male has completed his signal but may also start during the male's call. Females reply with brief clicks ranging from 1 to >10,adjusting this reply number to changes in male call duration and intensity. By using computer-synthesised calls, we discovered that the female times her reply both from cues within the male call, when she starts the reply before its conclusion, and from the end of the call, in the case where the reply follows the male call. As the number of clicks in the reply increases so the interval between clicks decreases; the female fits her entire reply within a critical time window following the male's call. The male call intensity had a marginal effect on female reply strategy. We suggest a model based on levels of female motivation, by which females may set the number of clicks in reply as well as the reply latency.

A novel acoustic-vibratory multimodal duet

“…Unimodal acoustic duets and temporally specific patterns of antiphonal calling by males and females have been described among some bushcrickets (Hartley et al, 1974;Heller and von Helversen, 1986;Robinson et al, 1986;Stumpner and Meyer, 2001;Bailey and Hammond, 2004), grasshoppers (von Helversen et al, 2004), mosquitos (Cator et al, 2009), flies (Donegan and Ewing, 1980), frogs (Tobias et al, 1998), mammals (Mitani, 1985;Nietsch, 1999) and birds (Thorpe et al, 1972). Unimodal vibratory courtship duets have likewise been described among spiders (Baurecht and Barth, 1992), planthoppers (Ichikawa, 1976), stoneflies (Ziegler and Stewart, 1977), stinkbugs (Cokl and Virant-Doberlet, 2003) and lacewings (Henry, 1980).…”

“…This paradigm is modified in some bushcricket genera, where females produce acoustic signals, either spontaneously as in the case of some ephippigerine bushcrickets (Platystolus obvius: Korsunovskaya, 2008) or in response to the male call, resulting in acoustic duets. A duet can be defined as a dialogue between two signalers (Bailey and Hammond, 2004), with a stereotyped temporal relationship between the signal from one individual and the reply from the other individual (Bailey, 2003). Duets are common among some ephippigerine bushcrickets such as Steropleurus stali, Steropleurus nobrei, Platystolus obvius (Hartley et al, 1974;Hartley, 1993), Ephippiger ephippiger (Ritchie, 1991) and Deracantha onos (Korsunovskaya, 2008); zaprochiline bushcrickets such as Meconoma thalassina (Robinson, 1990); and phaneropterine bushcrickets such as Leptophyes punctissima (Robinson et al, 1986), Elephantodeta nobilis (Bailey and Field, 2000), Scudderia curvicauda (Spooner, 1968), Phaneroptera nana (Tauber et al, 2001), Metaplastes spp., Euconocercus iris, Amblycorypha uhleri (Korsunovskaya, 2008), Barbitistes spp., (Stumpner and Meyer, 2001), Caedicia spp.…”

“…Duets are common among some ephippigerine bushcrickets such as Steropleurus stali, Steropleurus nobrei, Platystolus obvius (Hartley et al, 1974;Hartley, 1993), Ephippiger ephippiger (Ritchie, 1991) and Deracantha onos (Korsunovskaya, 2008); zaprochiline bushcrickets such as Meconoma thalassina (Robinson, 1990); and phaneropterine bushcrickets such as Leptophyes punctissima (Robinson et al, 1986), Elephantodeta nobilis (Bailey and Field, 2000), Scudderia curvicauda (Spooner, 1968), Phaneroptera nana (Tauber et al, 2001), Metaplastes spp., Euconocercus iris, Amblycorypha uhleri (Korsunovskaya, 2008), Barbitistes spp., (Stumpner and Meyer, 2001), Caedicia spp. (Bailey and Hammond, 2004), Andreiniimon nuptialis, Ancistrura nigrovittata, Isophya lemone and several Poecilimon species (Heller and von Helversen, 1986).…”

“…In many bushcricket species that acoustically duet, the timing of the female's call relative to the male's call is species specific and crucial in eliciting male phonotactic behavior (Heller and von Helversen, 1986;Robinson et al, 1986;Hartley, 1993;Stumpner and Meyer, 2001;Bailey and Hammond, 2004). Such duetting can result either in phonotaxis by both sexes that engage in the duet, or in stationary female replies and male-only movement.…”

Duetting Behaviour in the Leafhopper Aphrodes makarovi (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

“…Although analyses of the current data did not reveal any correlation between different components of male call and the timing of female response, further detailed studies are needed to elucidate the links between properties of the male call and onset of the female reply. Females may use more than one element within the male call for timing their reply (Bailey and Hammond 2004) or they may respond when male call duration reaches a critical duration (see below). Is there any adaptive significance to the overlap of female reply with the end of the male call?…”