Lifelong exposure to artificial light at night impacts stridulation and locomotion activity patterns in the cricketGryllus bimaculatus

Abstract

Living organisms experience a worldwide continuous increase in artificial light at night (ALAN), negatively affecting their behaviour. The field cricket, an established model in physiology and behaviour, can provide insights into the effect of ALAN on insect behaviour. The stridulation and locomotion patterns of adult male crickets reared under different lifelong ALAN intensities were monitored simultaneously for five consecutive days in custom-made anechoic chambers. Daily activity periods and acrophases were compared between the experimental groups. Control crickets exhibited a robust rhythm, stridulating at night and demonstrating locomotor activity during the day. By contrast, ALAN affected both the relative level and timing of the crickets' nocturnal and diurnal activity. ALAN induced free-running patterns, manifested in significant changes in the median and variance of the activity periods, and even arrhythmic behaviour. The magnitude of disruption was light intensity dependent, revealing an increase in the difference between the activity periods calculated for stridulation and locomotion in the same individual. This finding may indicate the existence of two peripheral clocks. Our results demonstrate that ecologically relevant ALAN intensities affect crickets’ behavioural patterns, and may lead to decoupling of locomotion and stridulation behaviours at the individual level, and to loss of synchronization at the population level.

Acoustic signalling in Orthoptera

“…There is also a growing literature on the generally adverse effects on orthopteran communication and behaviour caused by anthropogenic factors such as climate change (Cusano et al, 2016), radiation resulting from nuclear accidents (Fuciarelli and Rollo, 2021), artificial light at night (Levy et al, 2021) and urban and traffic noise (e.g. Bent et al, 2021;Gurule-Small and Tinghitella, 2019;Schmidt et al, 2014).…”

Impacts of Artificial Light at Night on Nocturnal and Diurnal Insect Biology and Diversity

“…Australian populations of Teleogryllus commodus were slow to initiate movement towards calling mates in the presence of ALAN either in the laboratory or under streetlights, but they did engage in sexual behaviour suggesting that ALAN was not entirely detrimental to their reproduction (Thompson et al, 2019). In another example, lifetime rearing of Gryllus bimaculatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) under 12 h light and 12 h of ALAN of intensities varying from 2, 5, to 40 lux revealed that although there was a greater impact of higher ALAN intensities, all experimental light intensities at night affected locomotory and stridulatory rhythms (Levy et al, 2021). There was greater asynchrony between individuals in calling activity and locomotion, all of which are likely to have critical effects on mating as well as foraging activity.…”

Road to The Red Carpet of Edible Crickets through Integration into the Human Food Chain with Biofunctions and Sustainability: A Review

“…Crickets are farmed commercially worldwide, however, the rearing technology varies and depends on many factors, which may affect their development and nutritional profile as for instance rearing environment [22] and diets. Regarding lighting, different light intensity and duration were applied to improve production efficiency [4,23,24]. Various use of rearing materials as conventional (egg carton, cotton wool and plastic bucket) and improvised (bamboo, scrap blanket and plywood-based cage) materials has no effect on their growth [25].…”