Gleaning bat echolocation calls do not elicit antipredator behaviour in the Pacific field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Bats that glean prey (capture them from surfaces) produce relatively inconspicuous echolocation calls compared to aerially foraging bats and could therefore be difficult predators to detect, even for insects with ultrasound sensitive ears. In the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, an auditory interneur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Physiology 2009-08, Vol.195 (8), p.769-776
Main Authors: ter Hofstede, Hannah M, Killow, Joanne, Fullard, James H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic Stimulation - methods
Action Potentials - physiology
Animal Physiology
Animals
Auditory Perception - physiology
Avoidance Learning - physiology
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chiroptera - physiology
Echolocation - physiology
Escape Reaction - physiology
Female
Gryllidae
Gryllidae - physiology
Interneurons - physiology
Life Sciences
Male
Neurosciences
Nyctophilus geoffroyi
Original Paper
Orthoptera
Psychophysics
Sex Factors
Teleogryllus oceanicus
Zoology
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Summary:Bats that glean prey (capture them from surfaces) produce relatively inconspicuous echolocation calls compared to aerially foraging bats and could therefore be difficult predators to detect, even for insects with ultrasound sensitive ears. In the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, an auditory interneuron (AN2) responsive to ultrasound is known to elicit turning behaviour, but only when the cricket is in flight. Turning would not save a cricket from a gleaning bat so we tested the hypothesis that AN2 elicits more appropriate antipredator behaviours when crickets are on the ground. The echolocation calls of Nyctophilus geoffroyi, a sympatric gleaning bat, were broadcast to singing male and walking female T. oceanicus. Males did not cease singing and females did not pause walking more than usual in response to the bat calls up to intensities of 82 dB peSPL. Extracellular recordings from the cervical connective revealed that the echolocation calls elicited AN2 action potentials at high firing rates, indicating that the crickets could hear these stimuli. AN2 appears to elicit antipredator behaviour only in flight, and we discuss possible reasons for this context-dependent function.
ISSN:0340-7594
1432-1351
DOI:10.1007/s00359-009-0454-3