Acoustical communication in social insects

Abstract

Airborne and substrate-borne sounds play a crucial role in intraspecific communication in many social insect species, and often also in interspecific information transfer. Acoustical signals are involved in a variety of social interactions and serve several functions, such as alarming or warning nestmates, recruiting nestmates to a profitable foraging site in the near or the far surrounding of the nest, or to a site within the nest where urgent activity is required. Sounds are also used for communication among members of the reproductive castes. Some sound signals enhance the effect of other, non-acoustical signals, and some have still unknown functions that remain to be unravelled. The present chapter reviews results of early and recent studies on the various mechanisms of sound production and sound perception in different social insects, on the physical parameters of the acoustical signals involved, and on the nature and the capacities of the respective sensory organs. It also describes experimental results demonstrating the various functions of acoustical communication in social insects, and discusses their evolutionary and ecological significance.