Spatial distribution, calling and interspecific acoustic interactions in two species of the Australian tettigoniid genus Tympanophora (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae)

Two species of the Australian genus Tympanophora, Tympanophora new species 1 ( T.n.sp.l) and T. similis share the same habitat and are sympatric with several other bushcricket species. Males of T. similis call in aggregations, whilst males of T.n.sp.l frequently sing closer to heterospecific than to conspecific neighbours. Hence males of T.n.sp.l may have to cope with more severe problems of interspecific acoustic interference than males of T. similis. Laboratory experiments support field data which indicate that the number of calling T.n.sp.l males decreases when the number of singing males of T. similis increases. Acoustic interactions between the two species and sympatric bushcricket species occur in the laboratory. Heterospecific song affects chirp interval and/or chirp pattern in the two Tympanophora species. Males of T.n.sp.l respond to the song of the sibling species T. similis differently than to the calls of the more distantly related tettigoniids tested. However, the response of T. similis males appears to depend on the temporal structure of the heterospecific songs. The results do not suggest that the frequency content of the heterospecific calls is important for the song interference which has been observed in Tympanophora.     

Behavioural adaptations of ground living bushcrickets to the properties of sound propagation in low grassland

Summary The acoustic behaviour of the closely related tetigoniid species Psorodonotus illyricus and Decticus verrucivorus have been invectigated by bioacoustical and behavioural methods. Both species show adaptations concerning the acoustic behaviour with respect to the biotope and the properties of sound propagation. These insects inhabit low grassland with an average vegetation height of about 20 cm which is also the general height for the song perches. Difficulties arise for efficient acoustic communication in such habitats. Sound propagation is influenced and limited by the strong ground attenuation and the excess damping by grass vegetation. Other limiting factors are the microclimatic conditions in the biotope. The two species counteract these difficulties by moving around in the biotope during stridulation. Both species mainly stridulate in the morning, avoiding problems of reduced sound transmission which often appear in the afternoon due to negative temperature gradients and resulting shadow zones. From the high mobility of these insects, it follows that individuals have no fixed territory and consequently no rivalry against conspecifics, which is very common among Orthopterans with a high degree of territoriality. It can be concluded that the preferred biotope influences and creates behavioural patterns in Orthopterans, especially here in the two investigated species of bushcrickets Psorodonotus illyricus and Decticus verrucivorus.     

Diet influences male-female interactions in the bushcricketRequena verticalis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

The influence of diet on the courtship roles of male and female Requena verticaliswas investigated in the laboratory. The protein content of available food was found to affect the frequency of mating attempts. Pairs which were fed on a low-protein diet were involved in fewer mating attempts than pairs which were fed on a high-protein diet. Diet also influenced the relative frequencies of male and female rejections. Males rejected their virgin female partners more often than females rejected their male partners when the pairs were kept on a low-protein diet. The opposite was found when the female had mated once before. No difference in the frequency of male and female rejections was found when the pair was kept on a high-protein diet irrespective of the mating status of the female.     

Decisions during Phonotaxis in the Bushcricket Requena verticalis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae): Do Females Change Direction to Alternative Male Calls?

Female bushcrickets (Requena verticalis, Listroscelidinae, Tettigoniidae) show a preference between male calls that differ in three parameters, temporal structure, frequency and intensity. In a two-choice speaker situation they prefer louder calls, songs in which the upper part of the frequency spectrum occupies higher frequencies and calls with short chirps rather than those with longer chirps. In an experiment females were offered an alternative call while orienting to a model of their conspecific song. The alternative call was demonstrably preferred by females when presented in a paired-speaker trial. Two motivational states were identified where females moved slowly or quickly to a sound source. Movement patterns were associated with the form of stimulus and slow females were discriminatory of male calls while fast females were not. Slow females changed speaker preference when the alternate speaker broadcast a call model with the higher frequency peak or the song model with the shorter chirps. By comparison fast moving females only changed course when the alternative sound source was louder.     

The acoustic behaviour of the bushcricket Tettigonia cantans I. Behavioural responses to sound and vibration

The responses of $\text{Tettigonia cantans}$ to species-specific song and substrate conducted vibration have been tested under three experimental regimes.When directional cues are adequate the sound source can be located by audition alone; where such cues fail to provide sufficient information then vibration signals become of value. In two-choice experiments vibrating substrates are preferred by both males and females moving towards the sound source. In multiple-choice experiments Tettigoniids may either detect and follow vibration gradients or the direction of the bending waves coming from the vibration source to orientate towards a conspecific.