Cricket Mate Attraction
The song of the cricket is commonly referred to as ‘chirping’, however the scientific classification is stridulation [9]. As with cicadas, male crickets are the sex who uses this method to attract mates, however female crickets sometimes participate as well [13]. Effective stridulation occurs with the use of the stridulatory organ, a large serrated vein that runs along the bottom of the cricket’s wings. These specialised body parts are called the Scraper and the File, one on the left wing and one on the right [7].
For the crickets call to be generated the scrapers must strike the file and rasp against the combed teeth that are present on both wings [10]. Each strike generates a silbe, or a single pulse, the call length and frequency is created by these strikes and the speed at which they occur, due to morphological differences between crickets. As the male cricket creates his song, he holds his wings up and open to act as an acoustic sail.
Song formation of the male cricket is controlled by six central factors:
1. Positioning of the tegman relative to each other when a silbe occurs.
2. Length of pulse, by the number of teeth used for each silbe.
3. Amount of pulses within each song.
4. Sequence of pulses, long and short.
5. Intensity of pulses, loudness and strength.
6. Frequency of sound produced.
Each species mating call will never be the same as the factor with overall control of the above processes is neural networking of the individual, which is as distinct as a fingerprint [11].
Song formation of the male cricket is controlled by six central factors:
1. Positioning of the tegman relative to each other when a silbe occurs.
2. Length of pulse, by the number of teeth used for each silbe.
3. Amount of pulses within each song.
4. Sequence of pulses, long and short.
5. Intensity of pulses, loudness and strength.
6. Frequency of sound produced.
Each species mating call will never be the same as the factor with overall control of the above processes is neural networking of the individual, which is as distinct as a fingerprint [11].
The song of the cricket occurs in four distinctive ways:
1. Calling song: attraction of females and deterrence to other males, is a loud song.
2. Courting song: attraction of a nearby female cricket, very quiet for a particular female.
3. Aggression song: to deter nearby male crickets, is triggered by chemoreceptors on the antennae that detect their presence.
4. Copulatory song: after successful mating, occurs for a brief period [2]; [6].
The cricket has two different methods of sound amplification, which is dependent on the species life history [9]; [10]. Burrowing crickets amplify their song by physically changing their environment, such as digging a particular shaped burrow that performs as a megaphone [7]. Winged crickets have a tegminal, which has the outcome of a thickened leathery wing, allowing the subalar space (under the wing) to amplify calls [16]. This method allows frequency control of released sounds with the use of wing positioning to the abdomen [16]. The space between the abdomen and wing, allows the sound waves length and amount of echo produced to change. Echo quantity can control the call volume, the length the call travels and sound wave frequency that is created by the song [13].
Song reception occurs in the same way for both male and female crickets, with the use of sense organs called tympanic membranes. These organs are located below the middle joint (knee) of the front legs [9]. The tympanic membranes are found all around these joints, allowing identification of sound direction, which is especially important for females trying to locate a mate that is singing [11].
1. Calling song: attraction of females and deterrence to other males, is a loud song.
2. Courting song: attraction of a nearby female cricket, very quiet for a particular female.
3. Aggression song: to deter nearby male crickets, is triggered by chemoreceptors on the antennae that detect their presence.
4. Copulatory song: after successful mating, occurs for a brief period [2]; [6].
The cricket has two different methods of sound amplification, which is dependent on the species life history [9]; [10]. Burrowing crickets amplify their song by physically changing their environment, such as digging a particular shaped burrow that performs as a megaphone [7]. Winged crickets have a tegminal, which has the outcome of a thickened leathery wing, allowing the subalar space (under the wing) to amplify calls [16]. This method allows frequency control of released sounds with the use of wing positioning to the abdomen [16]. The space between the abdomen and wing, allows the sound waves length and amount of echo produced to change. Echo quantity can control the call volume, the length the call travels and sound wave frequency that is created by the song [13].
Song reception occurs in the same way for both male and female crickets, with the use of sense organs called tympanic membranes. These organs are located below the middle joint (knee) of the front legs [9]. The tympanic membranes are found all around these joints, allowing identification of sound direction, which is especially important for females trying to locate a mate that is singing [11].