the steppengrille (gryllus spec.assimilis) selective filters and signal mismatch on two time scalessteppengrille(gryllus spec.assimilis)选择性滤波器和信号在两个时间尺度不匹配.pdfVIP

The Steppengrille (Gryllus spec./assimilis): Selective Filters and Signal Mismatch on Two Time Scales Matti Michael Rothbart, Ralf Matthias Hennig* ¨ Behavioural Physiology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Abstract In Europe, several species of crickets are available commercially as pet food. Here we investigated the calling song and phonotactic selectivity for sound patterns on the short and long time scales for one such a cricket, Gryllus spec., available as ‘‘Gryllus assimilis’’, the Steppengrille, originally from Ecuador. The calling song consisted of short chirps (2–3 pulses, carrier frequency: 5.0 kHz) emitted with a pulse period of 30.2 ms and chirp rate of 0.43 per second. Females exhibited high selectivity on both time scales. The preference for pulse period peaked at 33 ms which was higher then the pulse period produced by males. Two consecutive pulses per chirp at the correct pulse period were already sufficient for positive phonotaxis. The preference for the chirp pattern was limited by selectivity for small chirp duty cycles and for chirp periods between 200 ms and 500 ms. The long chirp period of the songs of males was unattractive to females. On both time scales a mismatch between the song signal of the males and the preference of females was observed. The variability of song parameters as quantified by the coefficient of variation was below 50% for all temporal measures. Hence, there was not a strong indication for directional selection on song parameters by females which could account for the observed mismatch. The divergence of the chirp period and female preference may originate from a founder effect, when the Steppengrille was cultured. Alternatively the mismatch was a result of select