Parallel effects of temperature on the male cricket calling song, phonotaxis of the female and the auditory responses of the L3 neurone

Abstract

Sender–receiver coupling is a fundamental aspect of sexual communication systems, especially when the signal must travel over significant distances. In the cricket Acheta domesticus L., both the syllable period of the calling songs of males and the syllable periods that are most attractive to females are negatively correlated with temperature. However, the range of syllable periods that females respond to phonotactically extends beyond the range of males' calling songs at all temperatures tested. In habitats occupied by crickets, surface temperatures of the ground vary considerably. The cricket's body temperature changes rather quickly based on the amount of direct solar radiation encountered (7 °C in 1 min). The responses by females to calling songs with syllable periods outside of the males' range might be advantageous in countering the effects of local variations in temperature caused by variations in the microhabitat. A temperature shift in the response to syllable period of the L3 auditory neurone parallels the temperature shift seen in the phonotactic response over a similar temperature range. These similarities support the model of the involvement of L3 in the phonotactic response and its modulation by temperature.