Vibratory territorial signals in caterpillars of the poplar lutestring, Tethea or (Lepidoptera: Drepanidae)

Abstract

Abstract. Caterpillars of the poplar lutestring moth, Tethea or, construct leaf shelters that they defend against intruding conspecifics using a combination of vibratory signals and physical aggression. Staged interactions between a resident caterpillar and introduced conspecific were recorded with a video camera and laser vibrometer. Residents crawl towards the intruder and perform three behaviours: lateral hitting, pushing, and mandible scraping. Vibrations caused by mandible scraping result from the caterpillar repeatedly scraping opened mandibles laterally against the leaf surface in bouts lasting 1.16 ± 0.39 s, with an average of 4 ± 1 scrapes per bout. We propose that these scrapes function in leaf shelter defense against conspecifics for the following reasons: Mandible scrapes are produced only by residents; they are generated when a resident is approached by an intruder; the rate of scraping increases as the intruder approaches the shelter; and residents in all trials retain their shelters, with the intruder leaving the leaf within 127.9 ± 104.3 s from the beginning of the trial. The function and evolutionary origins of vibration-mediated territoriality in caterpillars are discussed.

Transcriptome analysis of a social caterpillar, Drepana arcuata: De novo assembly, functional annotation and developmental analysis

“…The Drepanoidea comprises >1400 species distributed throughout the world [48]. This group includes species of interest for their unique hearing organs [49], as pests of coffee [50], and larval vibroacoustic communication [22][23][24][25][26][27]51,52]. Notably, due to variability in their social structure both between and within species, and their uniquely complex vibratory communication systems, larval Drepanoidea hold much promise for future research testing hypotheses on the function and evolution of communication and sociality.…”

Complex Vibratory Signalling and Putative Receptor Mechanisms in the Masked Birch Caterpillar, Drepana Arcuata (Lepidoptera, Drepanidae)

“…Vibration communication involves transmitting signals through a substrate either liquid or more commonly solid (Greenfield 2002, Virant-Doberlet and Cokl 2004, Cocroft and Rodriguez 2005. There are a number of examples of immature insects belonging to the orders Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera that use vibration communication for various functions (Ishay et al 1974, Cocroft 2001, Yack et al 2001, Bowen et al 2008, Kocarek 2009, Scott and Yack 2012.…”

Sociality in caterpillars: Investigations into the mechanisms associated with grouping behaviour, from vibroacoustics to sociogenomics

“…The Drepanoidea comprises >1400 species distributed throughout the world (Minet and Scoble 1999). This group includes species of interest for their unique hearing organs (Surlykke et al 2003), as pests of coffee (Hill 1983), and larval vibroacoustic communication (Yack et al 2001;Bowen et al 2008;Scott et al 2010;Guedes et al 2012;Scott 2012;Scott and Yack 2012;Yack et al 2014;Yadav et al 2017). Notably, due to variability in their social structure both between and within species, and their uniquely complex vibratory communication systems, larval Drepanoidea hold much promise for future research testing hypotheses on the function and evolution of communication and sociality.…”

“…One of the sensory mechanisms that is of particular interest is vibratory communication, as vibratory signalling is increasingly being reported in larval insects (e.g. Yack et al 2001;Fletcher 2007Fletcher , 2008Scott et al 2012;Yack and Yadav 2021). Although chemical communication has been widely explored as a mechanism for grouping in larval insects (Costa and Pierce 1997;Costa 2006;Despland and Santacruz-Endara 2016), vibrational communication is yet to be explored as a recruitment mechanism in most species (but see examples for sawfly and beetle larvae in Hoegraefe 1984; Fletcher 2007Fletcher , 2008Cocroft and Hamel 2010).…”