Predatory bug Picromerus bidens communicates at different frequency levels

Čokl, Andrej; Žunič, Alenka; Virant-Doberlet, Meta

doi:10.2478/s11535-011-0015-y

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Little is known about substrate‐borne sound communication in predaceous stink bugs (Asopinae) (Gogala, ; Shestakov, ), whose vibratory signals are produced by different mechanisms such as abdominal vibration, tremulation (vigorous shaking of the whole body) and percussion (Žunič et al ., ; Čokl et al ., , ). Signals are transmitted through plants, which represent the natural substrate where predatory stink bugs live and feed on soft‐body plant‐dwelling phytophagous insects (Lepidoptera or Coleoptera larvae), as well as on the plant itself, complementing the predator's diet (Zanuncio et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive behaviour and vibratory communication of the neotropical predatory stink bugPodisus nigrispinus

Laumann

Kavčič

Moraes

et al. 2013

Physiological Entomology

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Vibratory communication during reproductive behaviour is less well described in predatory (Asopinae) than in phytophagous (Pentatominae) stink bugs. Different steps in the mating behaviour of the predatory stink bug Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae; Asopinae) are described in the present study, together with vibratory signals emitted on artificial and natural substrate during courtship and copulation. Vibratory signals in Podisus nigrispinus have a decisive role in copulation success and are produced in both sexes by abdominal vibration and tremulation. In P. nigrispinus, one species-specific female and two male songs, which do not show the calling function typically found in phytophagous stink bugs, are produced by abdominal vibration and are emitted during reproductive behaviour. Additionally, P. nigrispinus produces tremulatory signals that have no species or sex specificity. Tremulatory signals emitted spontaneously on a plant as a sequence of readily repeated pulses are similar to the calling songs of the Pentatominae stink bug. These signals may carry information on the presence of a mate; however, in other behavioural contexts, they may have a different function, such as advertisement or even alarm signals. Plants transmit vibratory signals produced by both mechanisms as a low-pass filter, increasing the amount of low-frequency components. The results of the present study raise important questions about the interaction between chemical and vibratory signals in the mating behaviour of predatory stink bugs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive behaviour and vibratory communication of the neotropical predatory stink bugPodisus nigrispinus

Laumann

Kavčič

Moraes

et al. 2013

Physiological Entomology

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“…Tremulatory signals have been first described in Pentatomidae in the predatory stink bug species Podisus maculiventris [16] and Picromerus bidens [18]. Males produced sequences of regularly repeated pulse trains composed of a tremulatory signal followed by an abdominal vibration produced pulse [16].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Males produced sequences of regularly repeated pulse trains composed of a tremulatory signal followed by an abdominal vibration produced pulse [16]. Tremulatory signals were recorded on a loudspeaker in male and female P. bidens when touching each other, when repelling a mate trying to copulate and as a response to female song signals [18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Leafhoppers [5] and pentatominae stink bugs [12], [13] produce vibrational signals of similar velocity at the source but of different frequency characteristics: compared to leafhoppers’ vibrational signals, which contain also high frequency components (author’s personal communication), all until now investigated pentatominae stink bugs produce signals of lower frequencies tuned with the mechanical properties of plants [14], [15]. A broader repertoire of vibration producing mechanisms has been described in predatory stink bugs of the pentatomid subfamily Asopinae that emit high amplitude tremulatory signals [16], [17], [18], which have been ignored until now in Pentatominae. The role of different time parameters of pentatominae abdomen produced signals for mate recognition and location in the field is well understood [19]–[23] but communication distance with substrate- and/or airborne high amplitude and species less specific signals may be significantly increased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tremulatory and Abdomen Vibration Signals Enable Communication through Air in the Stink Bug Euschistus heros

et al. 2013

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Communication by substrate-borne mechanical signals is widespread among animals but remains one of their least understood communication channels. Past studies of vibrational communication in insects have been oriented predominantly to communication during mating, showing that species- and sex-specific vibrational signals enable recognition and localization of potential mates on continuous solid substrates. No special attention has been paid to vibrational signals with less obvious specificity as well as to the possibility of vibrational communication across substrates that are not in physical contact. We aimed to reinvestigate emission of the aforementioned vibrational signals transmitted through a plant in the stink bug Euschistus heros (Pentatomidae: Pentatominae) and to check whether individuals are able to communicate across adjecent, physically separated substrates. We used laser vibrometry for registration of substrate-borne vibrational signals on a bean plant. Using two bean plants separated for 3 to 7 cm between two most adjacent leaves, we investigated the possibility of transmission of these signals through air. Our study showed that males and females of E. heros communicate using tremulatory, percussion and buzzing signals in addition to the previously described signals produced by vibrations of the abdomen. Contrary to the latter, the first three signal types did not differ between sexes or between pentatomid species. Experiments with two physically separated plants showed significant searching behaviour and localization of vibrational signals of an E. heros male or a female, in response to abdominal vibration produced signals of a pair duetting on the neighbouring plant, in comparison to control where no animals were on the neighbouring plant. We also confirmed that transmission through air causes amplitude and frequency decay of vibrational signals, which suggests high-amplitude, low-frequency tremulatory signals of these stink bugs their most plausible way of communication across discontinuous substrates.

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“…Physical features of the substrate determine various signal transmission properties, such as propagation velocity, frequency filtering, and resonance [6]. Plant tissues are generally considered low-pass filters [5][6][7][8][9], imposing the upper frequency limit of signals used for efficient long-range communication in Pentatomine stink bugs. The dominant frequencies of all described songs produced in Pentatomine stink bugs by abdomen vibration to date fall in the range of 70-150 Hz with higher harmonics extending up to 600 Hz [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palomena prasina (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) vibratory signals and their tuning with plant substrates

Polajnar¹,

Kavčič

Kosi

et al. 2013

Open Life Sciences

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Palomena prasina is interesting for the study of vibrational communication within the Pentatomid subfamily Pentatominae, because its host range is limited to woody plants, unlike the better known Nezara viridula, whose vibrational communication is commonly used as a model for the whole family. The vibrational repertoire of P. prasina was described several decades ago and is redescribed in this paper using modern methods for non-contact vibration recording. Additionally, we hypothesized that this species has retained the capacity for signal frequency variation necessary for tuning to resonance properties of various host plants of Pentatominae, but if the signals are emited in the absence of mechanical feedback, they are tuned more specifically to their native acoustic environment — woody plants. By recording live bugs signalling on different substrates and comparing spectral properties of their signals among substrates, we found that there is a match between the signals emitted on a woody branch and those emitted on a non-resonant surface, while spectral properties of signals emitted on herbaceous plants differ. Our findings provide evidence in support of the signal tuning hypothesis and shed further light on the crucial role of substrate in vibrational communication of insects.

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Predatory bug Picromerus bidens communicates at different frequency levels

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

Reproductive behaviour and vibratory communication of the neotropical predatory stink bugPodisus nigrispinus

Reproductive behaviour and vibratory communication of the neotropical predatory stink bugPodisus nigrispinus

Tremulatory and Abdomen Vibration Signals Enable Communication through Air in the Stink Bug Euschistus heros

Palomena prasina (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) vibratory signals and their tuning with plant substrates

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