Abstract
Female cicadas use sound to select their mate from a chorus of singing males. Cicadas have tympanal ears, with both the ear's tympanal membrane, and constituent tympanal ridge, acting as acousto-mechanical transducers and frequency filters. Within the ear the tympanal ridge is mechanically connected to a large number of mechanosensory neurons via a cuticular extension known as the tympanal apodeme. Using microscanning laser Doppler vibrometry, the in vivo vibrations of the tympanal apodeme of female Cicadatra atra have been measured for the first time as they respond to the motion of the tympanal membrane driven by sound. These precise measurements reveal that the tympanal membrane's nanometre motion is over a magnitude greater than that of the tympanal apodeme at the point where the neurons attach. Further, the tympanal apodeme acts as an additional mechanical frequency filter, enhancing the frequency filtering of the tympanal ridge, to narrow the frequency band of vibration at the mechanoreceptor neurons solely to that of the male calling song. This study thus enhances our understanding of the mechanical links between the external ear of the cicada and its sensory cells. Poster Session held on Tuesday 30th June 2009 at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology, 28th June-1st July, Glasgow, UK.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.