Behavior Of Crickets Research Articles

1A1-D15 昆虫の適応的行動選択を実現する神経回路モデルに関する研究 : 神経修飾物質による行動調整機能のシミュレーションによる検証

Recent physiological research has revealed the importance of neuromodulator(e.g. NO) in the pheromone behavior such as fighting behavior in insects. This research aims to model the function of neuromodulator in fighting behavior of crickets, and to emerge adaptive action selection by constructive approach. In this report, we assume a model for adaptive behavior selection according to the physiological knowledge, and run some computer simulations.

Sex, intimidation and severed limbs: the effect of simulated predator attack and limb autotomy on calling and emergence behaviour in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus

Crickets can autotomize a limb in order to evade predation; however, this autotomy compromises their escape speed and, therefore, their ability to avoid subsequent predation events. We recorded two measures of predator-avoidance behaviour in field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) exposed to varying levels of predation threat, with the most extreme level leading to autotomy of a limb. Our first measure of caution was time to emergence from cover, which was affected by perceived predation treatment, with both autotomized males and females being significantly more cautious than intact individuals. For males (but not females), the presence of a calling conspecific encouraged earlier emergence. Our second measure of caution was alteration of male calling behaviour. Autotomized males remained silent for significantly longer time after disturbance than intact males, but there was no difference in call rate once they had resumed calling, suggesting that behavioural changes were not merely a result of injury response but a controlled modification of behaviour as a result of autotomy. These data suggest that autotomy in field crickets results in altered calling behaviour, which was not significantly altered with different acoustic environments.

Feeding behavior modulation in the leopard lizard ( Gambelia wislizenii): Effects of noxious versus innocuous prey

Feeding, a fundamentally rhythmic behavior in many animals, is expected to exhibit modulation with respect to prey type. Using high-speed videography (200 frames s −1) and kinematic analysis, we investigated prey-processing behavior in the long-nosed leopard lizard ( Gambelia wislizenii). The effects of two prey types were examined, innocuous immature crickets ( Acheta domesticus) and noxious stinging hymenopterans (honeybees [ Apis mellifer] and yellow jackets [ Vespula sp.]). Stinging hymenopterans are processed more extensively, with higher gape-cycling frequencies, and for a greater duration than are crickets. Generalized tetrapod feeding models were used as a framework to test the hypothesis that gape profile characteristics are modulated in response to prey noxiousness. Cricket processing generally fits the models, but hymenopteran processing departs from typical model parameters. In particular, the SO phase is absent to barely detectable during hymenopteran processing. This likely represents an effect of extrinsic neural input on a centrally directed rhythmic motor pattern, possibly to avoid being stung. Differences in the capture behavior of crickets versus hymenopterans indicate that G. wislizenii assesses prey noxiousness before physical contact with prey and modifies its capture behavior accordingly. These results add to the growing body of evidence that sensory information can play a critical role in shaping stereotyped rhythmic behaviors in non-mammalian tetrapods.

Tunneling Responses of Mole Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) to the Entomopathogenic Fungus,Beauveria bassiana

Abstract Greenhouse studies of mole cricket tunneling architecture were conducted with adult southern, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos and tawny, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder, mole crickets exposed to Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin. Three different strains of B. bassiana as well as the commercially available insecticide Talstar (bifenthrin) were evaluated for avoidance behaviors by examining tunneling characteristics. Each treated container was inspected 24 h after treatment for specific tunneling behaviors in association with the presence of a control agent and the cricket’s response to the conidia or chemical. One of the B. bassiana strains tested, DB-2, caused changes in mole cricket behavior, including significantly less new surface tunneling, fewer vertical tunnels descending into the soil, less tunneling along the perimeter of the containers, and significantly more occurrences of the crickets remaining in an area that reduced exposure to the conidia. Two of the other treatments, strain 10-2...

New technologies for testing a model of cricket phonotaxis on an outdoor robot

If biological inspiration can be used to build robots that deal robustly with complex environments, it should be possible to demonstrate that ‘biorobots’ can function in natural environments. We report on initial outdoor experiments with a robot designed to emulate cricket behaviour. The work integrates a detailed neural model of auditory localisation in the cricket with a robot morphology that incorporates principles of six-legged locomotion. We demonstrate that it can successfully track a cricket calling song over natural terrain. Limitations in its capability are evaluated, and a number of biologically based improvements are suggested for future work.

A multichannel electronic monitor of acoustic behaviors, and software to parse individual channels

We designed an electronic device to monitor calling behavior in male crickets. The device and its associated software can record to disk the activity of as many as 16 individuals simultaneously. The data recorded contain detailed information about the temporal structure of each individual’s calls. The temporal resolution achieved with an ordinary PC is good enough to detect and record the occurrence of every pulse of sound from each cricket. The resulting data files are efficient and compact, and so the system is appropriate for experiments lasting many days.

A simulation model of the effects of frequency dependence, density dependence and parasitoid flies on the fitness of male field crickets

There is substantial variation in the strategies animals use to obtain mates. In crickets, males may call to attract females or use a non-calling, or satellite, strategy and intercept females attracted to the calls of other males. Calling males are subject to attack by an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly and, after being parasitized, males die in 7–10 days. We used a simulation model to determine how frequency dependence, population density, and parasitoid flies affect the mating success of calling and non-calling males. The simulation demonstrated that calling males have higher mating success than satellite males under most conditions, and the fitness of both strategies increases with population density. Frequency-dependent selection did not have strong effects on calling or satellite male fitness. However, if parasitoid flies were present, satellite males had similar or higher mating success than calling males. These results demonstrate that the risk of parasitism strongly influences the fitness of calling and satellite males and likely contributes to the continued coexistence of alternative reproductive behavior in crickets.

Reafferent or Redundant: Integration of Phonotaxis and Optomotor Behavior in Crickets and Robots

A general problem in understanding the mechanisms underlying animal behavior is the integration or interaction of different sensorimotor systems. Webb and Harrison (2000a, b) investigated the addition of an optomotor reflex to a sound-localizing robot modeled on cricket behavior. Böhm, Schildberger, and Huber (1991) proposed a simple additive mechanism to explain how the cricket combines the two behaviors. Problems implementing this on the robot led us to propose an alternative inhibition mechanism, which proved effective. Here we directly compare these two possibilities and several further alternatives. First, in a simulation of the open-loop paradigm used by Böhm et al. we demonstrate that there are at least five algorithms (including “efferent copy”) that may adequately account for the data they present. We then consider possible neural implementations of several of these schemes, and test them in robot experiments. The results suggest that inhibition is both neurally plausible and effective as a means of combining these behaviors in real sensorimotor situations.

Use of Radiography and Tunnel Castings for Observing Mole Cricket (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) Behavior in Soil

The behavior of mole crickets, serious pests of turfgrass, is poorly understood and has been rarely studied, predominantly because these insects dwell deep in the soil and are highly mobile. To better understand how the tawny mole cricket, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder, and the southern mole cricket, S. borellii Giglio-Tos, behave in the soil, we used nondestructive x-ray techniques and wax and fiberglass resin castings to study the tunneling patterns and interactions of these mole crickets with their environment. Both species typically constructed Y-shaped tunnels to facilitate feeding and escape routes. Herbivorous tawny mole crickets tended to have more extensive and deeper tunnel systems than predatory southern mole crickets. Mole crickets maintained Y-shaped tunnels when subsoil density increased but often bent or terminated tunnels to avoid compacted areas. Both species maintained separate tunnels in the presence of other individuals of the same species. However, southern mole crickets exhibited more extreme separation, suggesting an avoidance behavior that may have been mediated by chemical, vibrational, or auditory cues. Although tawny mole crickets did not alter the shape of their Y-shaped tunnels in the presence of southern mole crickets, they sometimes would wall-off a tunnel, presumably in defense. Tawny mole crickets avoided contact with the entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Melchnikoff). This behavior suggests the potential of finding biologically active compounds that inhibit soil insect movement and could be used in the management of soil insect pests.

View from the boundary.

Re-implementing biological mechanisms on robots not only has technological application but can provide a unique perspective on the nature of sensory processing in animals. To make a robot work, we need to understand the function as part of an embodied, behaving system. I argue that this perspective suggests that the terms "representation" and "information processing" can be misleading when we seek to understand how neurobiological mechanisms carry out perceptual processes. This argument is presented here with reference to a robot model of cricket behavior, which has demonstrated competence comparable to that of the insect, but utilizes surprisingly simple central processing. Instead it depends on sensory interfaces that are well matched to the task, and on the link between environment, action, and perception.

A simple latency-dependent spiking-neuron model of cricket phonotaxis.

A simple hypothesis regarding the recognition behaviour of crickets for conspecific songs is implemented in a dynamic simulation of spiking neurons and tested on a robot base. The model draws on data from cricket neurophysiology but requires only four neurons to reproduce a wide range of the observed behaviour. The directional response depends on relative latencies in firing onset, and the 'recognition' emerges from the implicit filtering properties of leaky-integrate-and-fire neurons. Experimental conditions reproduced include tests of syllable rate preference, song from above with sound from one side, and choice between songs. The robot produces behaviour closely comparable to the cricket in all but a 'split-song' condition. A number of properties can be observed in the neural circuit that correspond to cricket neurophysiology including apparent 'recognition neurons'. Limitations of the model, extensions and alternative models are discussed.

Effects of social experience on aggressiveness and development of the sexual behavior in male crickets

Effects of social experience on aggressiveness and development of the sexual behavior in male crickets

Variation and Repeatability of Calling Behavior in Crickets Subject to a Phonotactic Parasitoid Fly

Male Teleogryllus oceanicus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) produce a conspicuous calling song to attract females. In some populations, the song also attracts the phonotactic parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Diptera: Tachinidae). I examined the factors affecting calling song by characterizing the calling behavior of caged crickets from an area where the fly occurs. Calling activity (proportion of time spent calling) was repeatable and a significant predictor of female attraction. However, calling activity in the parasitized population was lower than in an unparasitized Moorea population (Orsak, 1988), suggesting a compromise between high activity to attract females and low activity to avoid flies. Calling activity peaked simultaneously with fly searching, so crickets did not shift to calling when the fly is less active. Males harboring larvae did not call less than unparasitized males; however, a more controlled study of the effects of parasitization on calling behavior is needed to evaluate this result. The results are discussed in the context of other studies of the evolutionary consequences of sexual and natural selection on cricket calling behavior.

Current injection into interneurones of the terminal ganglion modifies turning behaviour of walking crickets

Ascending interneurones of the terminal ganglion of orthopterous insects are known to carry information on wind stimuli perceived by cercal receptors to thoracic and cephalic ganglia. Neurones of these anterior ganglia control evasive walking behaviour. We demonstrate that current injection into individual wind-sensitive local non-spiking interneurones and ascending giant interneurones of the terminal ganglion can influence the orientation behaviour of walking crickets. To induce a change of turning during “wind puff stimulation” by current injection into the lateral giant interneurone, its spike activity has to be modified by at least 100%. In 5 of 12 different types of non-spiking interneurones a moderate shift of the membrane potential results in a change of the mean speed of rotation and/or the frequency of turns. All preparations tested with different amounts of current injection showed a proportional change of turning frequency. Normally, the turning behaviour is evasive with respect to the wind source. During current injection this dependence is preserved, but the general orientation is readjusted. Taking into account known connections between some of these interneurones and ascending neurones the tested wind-sensitive local non-spiking interneurones of the terminal ganglion are likely to impose an offset on the mean direction of orientation controlled by cephalic and thoracic neuronal networks.

Wing‐flick Signals in the Courtship of the African Cave Cricket, Phaeophilacris spectrum

AbstractThe male of the African cave cricket Phaeophilacris spectrum (Saltatoria: Grylloidea: Phalangopsidae) possesses tegmina without stridulatory organs, and both females and males lack tympanal organs. Therefore acoustic communication in the usual sense, which is typical for most crickets, is absent in this species. However, adaptations of the wing articulation allow the males to flick their wings forward over their heads. During courtship these movements are performed in series of 4–5 wing‐flicks at a rate of 8–12 Hz (called wing‐flick series = WFS) which elicit low‐frequency air movements. Such signals may have taken over the functional significance of an acoustic ‘courtship song’. A quantitative analysis of the cricket's behaviour showed that in terms of frequency and total duration, ‘wing‐flick series’ and ‘rocking’ behaviour are the most prominent signals of the male's courtship display. Moreover, analysis of the spatial relationships between male and female demonstrates that the wing‐flicking is directed towards the female. The response of a female to a wing‐flicking, courting male seems mainly to be calmed down and to reach a passive, receptive state, necessary for subsequent copulation. Females confronted with a male's courtship display exhibited a significantly higher threshold to disturbing stimuli than uncourted ones.

Hormonal control of reproduction and reproductive behavior in crickets

In Orthoptera, the endocrine control of reproduction has been investigated mainly in Acrididae. Gryllidae are also good models for the study of hormonal control of reproduction and reproductive behavior. In this review, special attention will be focused on the house cricket, Acheta domesticus. In the house cricket, vitellogenesis is controlled according to the classical model described for most insect orders. However, whereas allatectomy completely abolished oocyte growth in A. domesticus, it did not totally suppress ovarian development and egg-laying in Teleogryllus commodus, Gryllus bimaculatus, and G. campestris. In the Gryllidae studied thus far, juvenile hormone (JH) is not needed for mating behavior. In adult A. domesticus, the expression of oviposition movement, although independent of the presence of the ovaries, is strictly controlled by JH III. Recent findings suggest hormonal actions on the central nervous system of the house cricket, and provide a stimulating basis for further research on the respective involvement of hormones and nervous system in the control of reproductive behavior in adult crickets. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 35:393–404, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Hormonal control of reproduction and reproductive behavior in crickets

Hormonal control of reproduction and reproductive behavior in crickets

Inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis alters oviposition behavior in female crickets.

The role of polyamines in the expression of cricket oviposition, a juvenile hormone-dependent behavior, was investigated using a specific inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, alpha-difluoromethylornithine (alpha-DFMO). The fat body of treated female house crickets (Acheta domesticus) did not show any putrescine and presented reduced levels of spermidine, whereas spermine titres were significantly enhanced. In nervous tissue, alpha-DFMO did not affect spermine titres but induced a severe drop in spermidine levels. In polyamine depleted females, the expression of egg-laying behavior was delayed and was expressed less frequently compared with controls. As drug treatment did not seem to affect juvenile hormone titres, the data suggest that juvenile hormone might act on behavior by way of polyamine metabolism. These results support the view that, in insects, as in vertebrates, the ornithine decarboxylase-polyamine system is involved in the maturation of complex behaviors.

Simulation of alternative male reproductive behavior: calling and satellite behavior in field crickets

Male field crickets and other acoustically communicating insects call and attract females and silently intercept females attracted by the calling of other males, so-called satellite behavior. A simulation of field cricket, Gryllus integer, mating behavior suggests that population density and sex ratio changes during the breeding season are important factors determining mating success of calling and satellite males. Satellite mating success increased with the proportion of satellite males, but mating success of callers was independent of the proportion of calling males. Satellite male mating success was greatest in high density populations with extremely female-biased sex ratios. Calling males also mated more often under most population densities, various populations differing in the proportion of callers and in sex ratios. Calling male mating advantage decayed exponentially, however, with increasing population density. Variation in male G. integer reproductive behavior has previously been associated with fluctuating population densities in empirical studies on laboratory and field populations. The simulation suggests that variation in male mating success with the operational sex ratio also contributes to the continuing existence of alternative male reproductive behavior. Predictions derived from the simulation can be tested in actual populations of G. integer and other species.

The Effects of Acoustic Signalling on Male Spacing Behavior in the Sagebrush Cricket: Are Signals used in Territorial Defense?

Acoustic signalling in orthopterans functions in mate attraction and/or intermale spacing. The pattern of intermale distances should reflect the degree to which signalling functions in territorial defense. Males who are unable to detect, and thus respond to, the signals of rivals should be at greater risk of inadvertently intruding on the territories of rivals and of being intruded upon. We tested, in two field mark-recapture experiments with the sagebrush cricket Cyphoderris strepitans, the hypothesis that acoustic signals are used in intermale spacing, predicting that deafened males are compromised in their ability to repel rivals and should thus be found in closer proximity than control (hearing) males. There was no difference in mating success between deaf and control groups. There was a difference in nearest-neighbor distance between deaf and control animals in one replicate of one experiment and in one night of one replicate of the other experiment. These results suggest that calling has a sporadic effect on spacing behaviour of sagebrush crickets and thus primarily functions in mate attraction. The results are discussed in the context of the mating system of sagebrush crickets and the economics of territory defense.