Auditory system biophysics in a new species of false-leaf katydid (Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae) supports a hypothesis of broadband ultrasound reception
Author
Woodrow, Charlie
Author
Montealegre-Z, Fernando
text
Zoologischer Anzeiger
2023
2023-05-31
304
94
104
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2023.04.002
journal article
10.1016/j.jcz.2023.04.002
1873-2674
8164300
4.4. Pinnae in the
Pseudophyllinae
and Meconematinae
It would be sensible to predict, based on these findings, that pseudophyllines which communicate at frequencies beyond the function provided by the acoustic trachea (
<
60 kHz;
Celiker et al., 2020
) may have lost function of the trachea, switching instead to utilising the high amplitude gains of the external auditory pinnae (
Pulver et al., 2022
) for conspecific sound reception (
Mason et al., 1991
). Morphological data we are collecting as a wider study of katydid auditory systems supports this hypothesis (Woodrow, unpublished). This is likely to also be the case in the extreme ultrasonic Meconematinae (
Supersonus
and
Arachnoscelis
spp.
), where calling song frequencies range from ~70 kHz over 150 kHz. Wider comparative studies of auditory trachea and pinnae function, combined with numerical simulation and biophysical experimentation, are in process to develop this hypothesis.
Funding
CW’ s PhD studentship is funded by the University of Lincoln’ s School of Life and Environmental Sciences. This study was funded by a European Research Council Grant ERCCoG-2017-773067 (to FMZ for the project “The Insect Cochlea”) and an NSF - NERC grant NSF DEB-1937815 - NE/T014806/1 (to FMZ).
Author contributions
CW conducted micro-CT scans, 3D printing, data collection and analysis, and writing. FMZ conducted song recording, specimen collection, permits, supervised, and oversaw the study.