Effect of mating on female phonotactic response in Gryllus integer (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Abstract

Little work has examined the importance of the variation in mating preferences shown by individual females in a population. In acoustical insects, female response in terms of orientation and movement towards the male calling song is one aspect of female mating preferences. In this study, the effects of mating status on female phonotactic responses in the field cricket, Gryllus integer, were investigated. All test subjects were 10-14 days old and varied in their pretrial mating history. Mated females had copulated 24 h prior to testing. Virgin females, however, had visual, olfactory, and acoustical exposure to males during the pretrial matings of the mated females. Phonotactic responses were measured using a noncompensating treadmill called the kugel. Females were presented with simulated conspecific calling songs differing in trill length in either choice or no-choice protocols. Virgin females exhibited greater overall movement than mated females as well as increased directional movement in multi-stimulus presentations but not in single-stimulus presentations. Neither virgin nor mated females differentiated between the two songs differing in trill length. The data demonstrate that female G. integer phonotaxis is influenced, in part, by both mating status and the availability of mates.