Tree crickets optimize the acoustics of baffles to exaggerate their mate-attraction signal
- University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- Indian Institute of Science, India
Abstract
Object manufacture in insects is typically inherited, and believed to be highly stereotyped. Optimization, the ability to select the functionally best material and modify it appropriately for a specific function, implies flexibility and is usually thought to be incompatible with inherited behaviour. Here we show that tree-crickets optimize acoustic baffles, objects that are used to increase the effective loudness of mate-attraction calls. We quantified the acoustic efficiency of all baffles within the naturally feasible design space using finite-element modelling and found that design affects efficiency significantly. We tested the baffle-making behaviour of tree crickets in a series of experimental contexts. We found that given the opportunity, tree crickets optimised baffle acoustics; they selected the best sized object and modified it appropriately to make a near optimal baffle. Surprisingly, optimization could be achieved in a single attempt, and is likely to be achieved through an inherited yet highly accurate behavioural heuristic.
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Data from: Tree crickets optimize the acoustics of baffles to exaggerate their mate-attraction signalAvailable at Dryad Digital Repository under a CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
Article and author information
Author details
Rohini Balakrishnan
Funding
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/I009671/1)
- Daniel Robert
UK India Research and Education Initiative
- Rohini Balakrishnan
- Daniel Robert
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- Rohini Balakrishnan
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (09/079(2199)/2008-EMR-I)
- Rittik Deb
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
- Natasha Mhatre
European Commission (254455)
- Natasha Mhatre
Royal Society
- Daniel Robert
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2017, Mhatre et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Tree crickets optimize the acoustics of baffles to exaggerate their mate-attraction signal
eLife 6:e32763.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.32763
