A tympanal insect ear exploits a critical oscillator for active amplification and tuning.

ABSTRACT: A dominant theme of acoustic communication is the partitioning of acoustic space into exclusive, species-specific niches to enable efficient information transfer. In insects, acoustic niche partitioning is achieved through auditory frequency filtering, brought about by the mechanical properties of their ears. The tuning of the antennal ears of mosquitoes and flies, however, arises from active amplification, a process similar to that at work in the mammalian cochlea. Yet, the presence of active amplification in the other type of insect ears--tympanal ears--has remained uncertain. Here we demonstrate the presence of active amplification and adaptive tuning in the tympanal ear of a phylogenetically basal insect, a tree cricket. We also show that the tree cricket exploits critical oscillator-l

SUBMITTER: Mhatre N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3793861 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature