Abstract
The mating behaviors of crickets, especially those related to agonistic encounters and oviposition, are poorly known. For example, only 10 of the 1005 valid species of Phalangopsidae have been studied to some extent. Here, we describe the reproductive behavior of Endecous (Endecous) chape, characterizing the actions involved in agonistic encounters, mating behaviors (female attraction, pair-formation, courtship, mating, and post-copulatory behavior), and oviposition. We recorded and timed agonistic, mating, and oviposition behaviors in staged trials. The male-male interactions ofE.chaperanged in aggressiveness from low intensity (only antennal interaction) to high intensity (reciprocal fights). In the mating behavior, males courted females through antennation of the females’ abdomen and cerci, followed by production of acoustic signals (with the exception of two males). Copulation occurred with females positioned above males (as is typical of Phalangopsidae), with an average elapsed time of 684.13 s, which is shorter than in other Phalangopsidae. We observed oviposition behavior only when three gravid females were placed together in an arena. Here, we contribute new knowledge of phalangopsid cricket behavior and provide useful information for understanding the evolution of reproductive behaviors. New characters described here can be used in phylogenetic analysis and for future studies about sexual selection and natural history.
Highlights
From a behavioral viewpoint, crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea) use all the main classes of sensory perception for intraspecific communication, and present specialized aggressive and hierarchical behaviors as well as a high degree of territoriality when compared to other non-social invertebrates (Alexander 1962)
We describe the reproductive behavior of Endecous (Endecous) chape, characterizing the actions involved in agonistic encounters, mating behaviors, and oviposition
From the least to the most aggressive, the behaviors observed were: (i) males remaining immobile or with few movements throughout the arena, without contact (n = 12); (ii) antennal contact with emission of song by one male (Fig. 1B) while the other male went to the corner and the dominant remained in the center (n = 2); (iii) antennal contact followed by reciprocal fight with subsequent escape of one male while the other male remained in the center of the arena making slight movements (n = 4); (iv) the same behavior presented in (iii), plus song emitted by the winning male in the center of the arena (n = 4) (Fig. 1D)
Summary
Crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea) use all the main classes of sensory perception for intraspecific communication (chemical, acoustic, tactile, and visual), and present specialized aggressive and hierarchical behaviors as well as a high degree of territoriality when compared to other non-social invertebrates (Alexander 1962). Cricket reproductive behavior includes female attraction by means of the calling song and sexual recognition by antennation (Hardy and Shaw 1983, Balakrishnan and Pollack 1997), which triggers courtship and copulation (Alexander 1966, Alexander and Otte 1967, Alexander 1975, Otte and Cade 1976, Otte 1992, Kortet and Hedrick 2005). Males communicate with females through stridulation (Alexander 1966, Zefa et al 2008), antennation (Prado 2006, Funk 2016), and body vibration (Bell 1980, Zefa et al 2008, Souza-Dias et al 2015). Females select a suitable oviposition site (Evans 1983) using visual and olfactory cues (Huber et al 1989, Sugawara 1993)
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