Field Cricket Species Differences in the Temporal Patterns of Long‐Distance Mate Attraction Signals

Abstract

We quantify variation in the temporal components of long‐distance mate attraction signals produced by a North American field cricket, Gryllus rubens Scudder. Total signaling time, trilling bout duration, and hourly bout number exhibit high repeatability within individuals. Extensive variation exists across individuals: some males never signal while others signal for several hours each night; of the signalers, average trilling bout duration ranges from <1 min to well over an hour; some males produce only one trilling bout in an evening while others produce three bouts every 2 h. Body size, weight, wing morphology, and condition do not appear to explain the variation. We compare the temporal signaling components of G. rubens with its sister species, G. texensis. Although G. rubens produce slightly more trills per hour with slightly shorter trilling bout durations, the temporal components of these long‐distance mate attraction signals are surprisingly similar across species.

Variation of Acoustic Courtship Signals in Insects and Amphibians: No Evidence for Bimodality, but Identical Dependence on Duration

“…Traits with a short duration were less variable, i.e. had lower CV-values than traits with a longer duration (see e.g., Bertram & Bowen 2006;Rosso et al 2006). With regard to morphological traits, the expected independence between trait variability and trait size also seems to be absent (Pankakoski et al 1987;Polly 1998;Prevosti & Lamas 2006).…”

“…Traits with a short duration were less variable, i.e. had lower CV‐values than traits with a longer duration (see e.g., Bertram & Bowen 2006; Rosso et al. 2006).…”

Relationship Between Condition, Aggression, Signaling, Courtship, and Egg Laying in the Field Cricket, Gryllus assimilis

“…Crickets compete in aggressive contests (fights) to gain access to mating territories, produce long-range acoustic signals to attract potential mates (phonotaxis; Alexander 1961), and then use short-range courtship songs and antennal stroking to entice females to mate (Shackleton et al 2005). To date, most cricket studies have not explored the interplay between all of these factors, instead focusing either only on aggression (Parker 1974;Adamo & Hoy 1995;Hofmann & Schildberger 2001;Briffa 2007;Jang et al 2008), only on acoustic mate attraction signaling (Wagner et al 1995;Bertram 2000;Robinson & Hall 2002;Bertram & Warren 2005;Bertram & Bowen 2006), the interplay between acoustic mate attraction signaling and mating (Balakrishnan & Pollack 1996;Hack 1997;Gray & Eckhardt 2001;Holzer et al 2003;Simmons 2004), or the interplay between aggression and mating (Bateman & Toms 1998;Kortet & Hedrick 2005;Shackleton et al 2005;Brown et al 2006). To date, most cricket studies have not explored the interplay between all of these factors, instead focusing either only on aggression (Parker 1974;Adamo & Hoy 1995;Hofmann & Schildberger 2001;Briffa 2007;Jang et al 2008), only on acoustic mate attraction signaling (Wagner et al 1995;Bertram 2000;Robinson & Hall 2002;Bertram & Warren 2005;Bertram & Bowen 2006), the interplay between acoustic mate attraction signaling and mating (Balakrishnan & Pollack 1996;Hack ...…”

“…Females appear to select mates based on male body size, pheromones, and fighting and singing ability, (Crankshaw 1979;Gray 1997;Nelson & Nolen 1997;Savage et al 2004;Leonard & Hedrick 2010). To date, most cricket studies have not explored the interplay between all of these factors, instead focusing either only on aggression (Parker 1974;Adamo & Hoy 1995;Hofmann & Schildberger 2001;Briffa 2007;Jang et al 2008), only on acoustic mate attraction signaling (Wagner et al 1995;Bertram 2000;Robinson & Hall 2002;Bertram & Warren 2005;Bertram & Bowen 2006), the interplay between acoustic mate attraction signaling and mating (Balakrishnan & Pollack 1996;Hack 1997;Gray & Eckhardt 2001;Holzer et al 2003;Simmons 2004), or the interplay between aggression and mating (Bateman & Toms 1998;Kortet & Hedrick 2005;Shackleton et al 2005;Brown et al 2006). The only research to explore the interplay between mate signaling and cricket aggression was described by Wilson et al (2010) which investigated correlations between activity, exploratory behavior, antipredatory behavior, aggression, and mate signaling.…”

The relationships between acoustic mate attraction signaling, age, aggressiveness, and sperm quality in spring field crickets

“…A series of chirps is concatenated together to produce a bout of song. We define a song as a series of chirps in which the male does not pause for longer than one minute; once a male pauses for thirty seconds or longer, he is considered to have begun a new song bout (following Bertram and Warren 2005;Bertram and Bowen 2006). Because our recording system continuously monitored males' acoustic behaviour, our measure of daily time spent calling quantifies the total amount of time each male spent calling during a 24-hour period.…”