Habitat-dependent transmission of male advertisement calls in bladder grasshoppers (Orthoptera; Pneumoridae)

The Journal of Experimental Biology
Vanessa C K Couldridge, Moira J van Staaden

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that the physical properties of the environment exert selection pressure on long-range acoustic communication signals to match the local habitat by promoting signal characteristics that minimize excess attenuation and distortion. We tested this in a unique family of bladder grasshoppers notable for producing a signal with a 2 km maximum transmission distance. In direct performance comparisons, male advertisement calls of seven species were broadcast through four vegetation biomes--forest, fynbos, savanna and succulent karoo. The calls of species native to forest and fynbos biomes propagated with lower levels of distortion over distance in their respective habitats relative to those of non-native species, while fynbos species also performed best in the remaining two habitats. In addition, both forest and fynbos species had low levels of signal attenuation over distance in all environments. The fynbos biome was characterized by high inconsistency in signal degradation, while the forest biome had the highest levels of environmental noise. Innate habitat characteristics, leading to comparatively limited acoustic communication distances in the forest and fynbos relative to the savanna and succulent karoo, ma...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Apr 28, 2006·The Journal of Animal Ecology·James A Nicholls, Anne W Goldizen
Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·L M CaroC D Cadena
Jan 31, 2014·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·John H MaloneEmily Moriarty Lemmon
Jul 21, 2015·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·A Medina-GarcíaT F Wright
Oct 30, 2014·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Arne K D Schmidt, Rohini Balakrishnan
Jan 3, 2018·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Stefanie Krämer, Bernhard Ronacher
Aug 16, 2018·Current Zoology·Molly E CummingsUNKNOWN Handling editor: Rebecca C. Fuller
Apr 1, 2008·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Michiya KamioCharles D Derby
Nov 4, 2008·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Daniel R HowardPeggy S M Hill

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