Frequency tuning and directional sensitivity of tympanal vibrations in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus.

ABSTRACT: Female field crickets use phonotaxis to locate males by their calling song. Male song production and female behavioural sensitivity form a pair of matched frequency filters, which in Gryllus bimaculatus are tuned to a frequency of about 4.7 kHz. Directional sensitivity is supported by an elaborate system of acoustic tracheae, which make the ears function as pressure difference receivers. As a result, phase differences between left and right sound inputs are transformed into vibration amplitude differences. Here we critically tested the hypothesis that acoustic properties of internal transmissions play a major role in tuning directional sensitivity to the calling song frequency, by measuring tympanal vibrations as a function of sound direction and frequency. Rather than sharp frequen

SUBMITTER: Lankheet MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5378147 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature