Abstract
The relationship between body size and vocalization parameters has been studied in many animal species. In insect species, however, the effect of body size on song frequency has remained unclear. Here we analyzed the effect of body size on the frequency spectra of mating songs produced by the two-spotted cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus. We recorded the calling songs and courtship songs of male crickets of different body sizes. The calling songs contained a frequency component that peaked at 5.7 kHz. On the other hand, courtship songs contained two frequency components that peaked at 5.8 and 14.7 kHz. The dominant frequency of each component in both the calling and courtship songs was constant regardless of body size. The size of the harp and mirror regions in the cricket forewings, which are the acoustic sources of the songs, correlated positively with body size. These findings suggest that the frequency contents of both the calling and courtship songs of the cricket are unaffected by whole body, harp, or mirror size.
Highlights
Acoustic signals are important communication tools for animals
The dominant frequency of individual crickets was constant, and did not significantly correlate (F(1,48) = 0.324 and p = 0.572) with cricket mass (Fig 1C and Table 1). These findings suggest that the frequency content in the calling song of G. bimaculatus does not reflect body size
The present study revealed that the calling song of G. bimaculatus contains a pure frequency component at 5.7 kHz
Summary
Acoustic signals are important communication tools for animals. Conspecific communications using acoustic signals are widely observed in both vertebrate and invertebrate species. The auditory organ comprises several parts, including the tympanic membrane, the cochlea, and the auditory neurons that transduce the signals to the brain. In the vertebrate auditory system, the cochlea recognizes the frequency content of incoming sound waves. The invertebrate auditory organ is evolutionarily different, its function to sense airwaves is surprisingly similar to that in vertebrates. Whether invertebrate auditory systems have a frequency-analyzing function is unclear, because supporting evidence is limited. The rainforest katydid was recently reported to analyze frequencies as well as the vertebrate cochlea [1], raising the possibility that the frequency content of invertebrate sounds contains biologically significant information, similar to that in vertebrates
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