Responses of intended and unintended receivers to a novel sexual signal suggest clandestine communication

Tinghitella, Robin M.; Broder, E. Dale; Gallagher, James H.; Wikle, Aaron W.; Zonana, David M.

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-20971-5

Cited by 25 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…In the Hawaiian Islands, the typical airborne acoustic calling song also attracts an acoustically orienting predator, the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Bigot, 1889). O. ochracea facilitated the evolution of an obligately silent male morph of T. oceanicus Kolluru 1998, Zuk et al 2006) and is likely playing a role in the evolution of a newly discovered male morph, purring crickets (Tinghitella et al 2018, Tinghitella et al 2021. Purring crickets are a new acoustic morph in Hawaii in which males use wing stridulation to produce airborne acoustic signals that are lower in amplitude and more broadband than typical male songs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Substrate-borne vibration in Pacific field cricket courtship displays

Broder¹,

Wikle²,

Gallagher³

et al. 2021

JOR

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While thought to be widely used for animal communication, substrate-borne vibration is relatively unexplored compared to other modes of communication. Substrate-borne vibrations are important for mating decisions in many orthopteran species, yet substrate-borne vibration has not been documented in the Pacific field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Male T. oceanicus use wing stridulation to produce airborne calling songs to attract females and courtship songs to entice females to mate. A new male morph has been discovered, purring crickets, which produce much quieter airborne calling and courtship songs than typical males. Purring males are largely protected from a deadly acoustically orienting parasitoid fly, and they are still able to attract female crickets for mating though typical calling song is more effective for attracting mates. Here, we document the first record of substrate-borne vibration in both typical and purring male morphs of T. oceanicus. We used a paired microphone and accelerometer to simultaneously record airborne and substrate-borne sounds produced during one-on-one courtship trials in the field. Both typical and purring males produced substrate-borne vibrations during courtship that temporally matched the airborne acoustic signal, suggesting that the same mechanism (wing movement) produces both sounds. As previously established, in the airborne channel, purring males produce lower amplitude but higher peak frequency songs than typical males. In the vibrational channel, purring crickets produce songs that are higher in peak frequency than typical males, but there is no difference in amplitude between morphs. Because louder songs (airborne) are preferred by females in this species, the lack of difference in amplitude between morphs in the substrate-borne channel could have implications for mating decisions. This work lays the groundwork for investigating variation in substrate-borne vibrations in T. oceanicus, intended and unintended receiver responses to these vibrations, and the evolution of substrate-borne vibrations over time in conjunction with rapid evolutionary shifts in the airborne acoustic signal.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Phonotaxis experiments have revealed that female crickets use the purring song to locate mates, and the role of the purr in courtship is still uncertain (Tinghitella et al 2018). Some female O. ochracea can also locate hosts using the purr, but they overwhelmingly prefer typical males in field choice tests (Tinghitella et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate-borne vibration in Pacific field cricket courtship displays

Broder¹,

Wikle²,

Gallagher³

et al. 2021

JOR

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…songs to locate mates, but more females respond to the ancestral song than to the purring song (Tinghitella et al, 2018). Similarly, in the lab, flies are able to locate speakers broadcasting purring songs over short distances, but in preliminary trials we caught flies only when we broadcast ancestral song from fly traps in the field (Tinghitella et al, 2021). One of the big remaining questions is how female crickets and flies respond to different purrs in the wild, and answering it would help us understand how sexual selection (female crickets) and natural selection (female flies) are acting on the new purring sexual signal.…”

Section: Study System Experimental Design and Field Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Inter-institutional Collaboration to Generate Publishable Findings through Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Smith¹,

Broder²,

Tinghitella³

et al. 2021

The American Biology Teacher

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Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are high-impact practices that allow students to conduct research during class time. Benefits of a CURE can be maximized when integrated into a faculty member’s ongoing research. However, this can be particularly challenging for field biologists, especially when field sites are not situated near their university. Indeed, few existing CUREs are field based. One solution is to partner with a collaborator near the field site. We describe a semester-long CURE in an animal behavior class that involved collaboration among three institutions: researchers from two “distant” institutions have ongoing research at the “local” institution where the CURE took place. This model uses remote conferencing and strategic collaboration to meet all stakeholders’ needs. Undergraduate students engaged as active participants in collaborative inquiry-based work, learned in a cooperative context, and even participated in the publication process. The local principal investigator and their institution generated a high-impact course that integrated research and teaching. Likewise, the distant principal investigators were able to collect more extensive and longer-term field-based data than otherwise possible, and they gained valuable input from the local researchers that contributed to future projects. Remote collaborations open the door to international collaboration with smaller institutions, promoting greater inclusion in science.

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“…Neoconocephalus males could also counter parasitism by reduced calling activity (Vélez & Brockmann, 2006;Zuk et al, 2006), increased grooming to remove planidia larva (Vincent & Bertram, 2010), increased caution (Lewkiewicz & Zuk, 2004), temporal shift of calling activity (Cade et al, 1996), change of the signal or signaling behavior (Belwood & Morris, 1987;Tinghitella et al, 2021;Zuk et al, 2006), or possibly calling in conspecific or heterospecific aggregations and thus benefitting by confusing the parasitoid and/ or reduce the parasitism risk through dilution (reviews in Lehmann & Lakes-Harlan, 2019;Goodale et al, 2019;but: Cade, 1981;Trillo et al, 2016). Especially changes in signaling behavior or signal features could introduce the variation necessary for the communication system of parasitized populations to evolve rapidly.…”

Section: Natural Selection and Possible Adaptations Of Host Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasitism of Neoconocephalus katydids by the parasitoid fly, Ormia lineifrons

Rogers

Beckers

2021

Ethology

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Mating signals of insects do not only attract their intended receivers but also eavesdropping parasites and/or predators. As a result, an arms race between the host or prey and the eavesdropper ensues, propelling their co-evolution and potentially contributing to their diversification. Here, we investigate the species interaction of the fly Ormia lineifrons that uses Neoconocephalus katydids as hosts for its lethal larvae. We surveyed the host use of O. lineifrons over a 2-year period in Kentucky and determined which species were used as hosts, the parasitism rate of each katydid host, and how many generations per year the fly displays. Four of the six surveyed Neoconocephalus species were parasitized and killed (Neoconocephalus triops, Neoconocephalus velox, Neoconocephalus robustus, Neoconocephalus nebrascensis) by O. lineifrons. Three of these katydid species were previously not known to be hosts of O. lineifrons. Two of the six species were not parasitized in either year (Neoconocephalus bivocatus, Neoconocephalus retusus) even though O. lineifrons was active when they called. The parasitism rate of each host peaked between 38% and 100% across years. The fly had three distinct generations per year, and each generation used different katydid species as hosts. We discuss the importance of the synchronization of the three fly generations with their hosts as well as potential counteradaptations of the hosts. These semi-independent arms races could provide valuable insights in the diversification of the hosts and their parasitoid.

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Responses of intended and unintended receivers to a novel sexual signal suggest clandestine communication

Cited by 25 publications

References 82 publications

Substrate-borne vibration in Pacific field cricket courtship displays

Substrate-borne vibration in Pacific field cricket courtship displays

Using Inter-institutional Collaboration to Generate Publishable Findings through Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Parasitism of Neoconocephalus katydids by the parasitoid fly, Ormia lineifrons

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