If a bird flies in the forest, does anyone hear it? : avian flight sound cues and hearing in lepidoptera

Fournier, Jean-Paul

doi:10.22215/etd/2011-07097

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…For these recordings, the microphone was placed 0.3 m perpendicular to the midpoint of the bird flight path. The waveform in Figure 3.3 shows that bird flight sounds are composed of short duration, broad-frequency pulses, similar to those reported by Fournier (2011) andFournier et al (2013). By synchronizing the video recording with the audio recording, it is observed that each cycle corresponds to one wingbeat cycle, composed of one complete downstroke followed by one complete upstroke.…”

Section: Recording Bird Flight Sounds In the Laboratorysupporting

confidence: 73%

“…Next, the audio characteristics of the bird flight sounds were examined. Similar to recordings obtained from recordings of wild chickadees and phoebes (Fournier 2011), cockatiel bird flight sounds are cyclic and consist of short pulses that correspond to the up-and downstrokes, although the flight cycles are longer and the peak frequency is lower. This is attributed to the larger size of the cockatiel, relative to the phoebes and chickadees.…”

Section: Objective 1: Record Bird Flight Sounds In the Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 66%

“…It has been shown that birds produce flight sounds that are also low-frequency and broadband (Mahony 2006;Lane et al 2008). Further studies on the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) and the Black-Capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) confirm that birds produce flight sounds in their natural environments when hunting a prey item (Fournier 2011;Fournier et al 2013). The Eastern Phoebe's flight sounds were found to be broadband (> 50 kHz at -20 dB) with most of the power in the range 1 -5 kHz, which is well within the hearing range of the butterfly ear.…”

Section: Birds Produce Flight Sound During Huntingmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…An earlier study (Fournier 2011) showed that moth ears responded to playbacks of bird flight. I attempted to determine if a moth prep would respond to a live bird flying in the lab.…”

Section: Insects Are Capable Of Hearing Bird Flight Soundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this work, I studied the bird flight sounds of a trained cockatiel in the laboratory. The advantage of studying the bird flight sounds in the laboratory is that the experiment is very wellcontrolled and that there is very low ambient background noise, which is known to pose additional challenges during field studies (Bradbury and Vehrencamp 2011;Fournier 2011).…”

Section: Objective 1: Record Bird Flight Sounds In the Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tympanal Ears in Nyphalidae Butterflies: Morphological Diversity and Tests on the Function of Hearing

Hall¹

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Several Nymphalidae butterflies possess a sensory structure called the Vogel's organ (VO) that is proposed to function in hearing. However, little is known about the VO's structure, taxonomic distribution or function. My first research objective was to examine VO morphology and its accessory structures across taxa. Criteria were established to categorize development levels of butterfly VOs and tholi. I observed that enlarged forewing veins are associated with the VOs of several species within two subfamilies of Nymphalidae. Further, I discovered a putative light/temperature-sensitive organ associated with the VOs of several Biblidinae species. The second objective was to test the hypothesis that insect ears function to detect bird flight sounds for predator avoidance. Neurophysiological recordings collected from moth ears show a clear response to flight sounds and chirps from a live bird in the laboratory. Finally, a portable electrophysiology rig was developed to further test this hypothesis in future field studies.iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank David Hall who spent endless hours listening to my musings and ramblings regarding butterfly ears, sharing in the joy of my discoveries, and comforting me in times of frustration. Without him, this thesis would not have been possible. I thank Dr. Jayne Yack for being an amazing supervisor and going above and beyond what was necessary to help me, inspire me, and encourage me.

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Section: Recording Bird Flight Sounds In the Laboratorysupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Objective 1: Record Bird Flight Sounds In the Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Birds Produce Flight Sound During Huntingmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…An earlier study (Fournier 2011) showed that moth ears responded to playbacks of bird flight. I attempted to determine if a moth prep would respond to a live bird flying in the lab.…”

Section: Insects Are Capable Of Hearing Bird Flight Soundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Objective 1: Record Bird Flight Sounds In the Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tympanal Ears in Nyphalidae Butterflies: Morphological Diversity and Tests on the Function of Hearing

Hall¹

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What does a butterfly hear? Physiological characterization of auditory afferents in Morpho peleides (Nymphalidae)

2018

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Many Nymphalidae butterflies possess ears, but little is known about their hearing. The tympanal membrane of butterflies typically comprises distinct inner and outer regions innervated by auditory nerve branches NII and NIII and their respective sensory organs. Using the Blue Morpho butterfly (Morpho peleides) as a model, we characterized threshold and suprathreshold responses of NII and NIII. Both are broadly tuned to 1-20 kHz with best frequencies at 1-3 kHz, but NIII is significantly more sensitive than NII. The compound action potentials (CAPs) of both branches increase their first peak amplitudes and areas in response to higher sound levels. NII and NIII differed in their suprathreshold CAP responses to sound frequencies, with stronger responses to 1-3 and 4-6 kHz, for NIII and NII respectively; results that are consistent with tympanal membrane mechanics. These results indicate that butterflies are capable of amplitude and frequency discrimination. Both auditory branches responded to playbacks of the flight and calls of predatory birds. We propose that the ears of butterflies, like those of many vertebrate prey such as some rabbits and lizards, function primarily in predator risk assessment.

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Hearing in Butterflies: Neurophysiological Characterization of the Auditory Afferents in Morpho Peleides (Nymphalidae)

Mikhail¹

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Many butterflies have well developed tympanal ears on their wings but little is known about what they are capable of hearing in their natural environments. The tympanal ear of many butterflies, including Morpho peleides, comprises an outer membrane and a conspicuous inner dome (tholus), both of which are innervated by two separate auditory nerve branches (NII and NIII) and their respective sensory organs. Using extracellular neurophysiological recordings, I explored how this morphology contributes to mechanical sound frequency and amplitude discrimination. I also show that the auditory nerves of M. peleides responded to playbacks of the broadband cyclic sounds produced passively during flight of blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata), as well as to the low frequency vocalizations of one of its main avian predators, the rufous-tailed jacamar (Galbula ruficauda), providing further evidence that butterflies and possibly other diurnal insects could be using their sense of hearing to detect and avoid avian predators. Table of Contents .

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If a bird flies in the forest, does anyone hear it? : avian flight sound cues and hearing in lepidoptera

Cited by 3 publications

References 106 publications

Tympanal Ears in Nyphalidae Butterflies: Morphological Diversity and Tests on the Function of Hearing

Tympanal Ears in Nyphalidae Butterflies: Morphological Diversity and Tests on the Function of Hearing

What does a butterfly hear? Physiological characterization of auditory afferents in Morpho peleides (Nymphalidae)

Hearing in Butterflies: Neurophysiological Characterization of the Auditory Afferents in Morpho Peleides (Nymphalidae)

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