Acoustic Behaviour of Insects

An account of the current research on sound communication in insects, with a particular emphasis on the importance of this method of communication in their evolutionary life-history. Combining neurophysiological with behavioural studies, the book also looks at the significance of sound to the animals' ecology, behaviour and evolution.

Part 1 Sound questions and acoustic behaviour: alternative behaviours; male spacing behaviour; mate finding in females; size and reproductive success; selection on the calling behaviour of insects; natural and sexual selection. Part 2 Acoustic strategies in aggregations: calling and co-operating; leks and sprees; sites for aggregations; more numbers more power; are females attracted to choruses?; group songs and species distinctiveness - individuality in a group; male agonistic behaviour with minimum contact. Part 3 Chorusing and alternating behaviour: synchrony within the chorus; asynchronous choruses; calling and listening; crepitation; alternation. Part 4 A question of sound: sound a working definition; measuring sound; near-field sound communication; frequency and loudness control; measuring substrate vibrations; amplifiers and baffles; noise. Part 5 Producing sound: using near-field sounds; substrate-borne vibration; airborne sounds. Part 6 Listening and recognizing: collecting information the mechanoreceptor; the locust; ears of crickets and bushcrickets; moth ears; the cicada car; strange ears - lacewings, beetles, mantises and bugs. Part 7 Mate recognition: species specific signals homogamy; unique species songs; the recognition of non-like; calling and courtship songs; signal stability; female songs and species recognition. Part 8 Sound patterns: variations and stereotypes; the central control of the output; feedback control; linking input to output; the input signal recognition; central recognition; song gaps and species recognition in grasshoppers. Part 9 Sound localization and distance perception: directionality in the near-field; directional responses to substrate-borne vibration; directional responses to airborne sound; directional hearing in the Orthoptesa; distance. Part 10 Avoiding predation: the detection of predation; evolutionary strategies in response to birds and parasitoids; calling strategies that reduce predation. Part II The evolution of acoustic communication: sexual differences in calling; switching signals and changing meanings; dual auditory function in acoustic moths; the evolution of social signals; conclusion.