Mehdipour Maedeh, Sendi Jalal Jalali, Zamanian Hossein
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran; Young Researchers and Elite Club, Babol Branch, Islamic Azad University, Babol, Iran.
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.
C R Biol. 2015 Feb;338(2):103-11. doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2014.10.008. Epub 2014 Dec 16.
Tibicen plebejus is the largest cicada native to the ecosystem in northern Iran. The male cicada produces a loud calling song for attracting females from a long distance. It is presumed that the female selects a mate based on a combination of passive and active mechanisms, but it is not known if she selects for size, nor if the male's size correlates with any characteristic of the advertisement call. In this study, we report the relationship between calling song features and morphological characters in the male of T. plebejus. Research was conducted in northern Iran during the summer of 2010. Seventeen males were collected and their calling songs were recorded in a natural environment. Two morphological characters were measured: length and weight. Maximum, minimum and average of values of 10 key acoustic variables of the calling song were analyzed: phrase duration, phrase part 1, phrase part 2, number of phrases per minute, echeme duration, echeme period, interecheme interval, number of echeme per second, echeme/intereheme ratio, and dominant frequency. The data were tested for the level of association between morphology and acoustic variables using simple linear regression. In conclusion, in terms of song structure, three significant positive correlations existed between length and (1) mean echeme duration, (2) mean echeme/interecheme ratio, (3) maximum echeme/interecheme ratio. We found out also four significant negative correlations between both length and weight with (1) minimum interecheme intervals, (2) mean dominant frequency, (3) minimum dominant frequency, (4) maximum dominant frequency, and between weight and (1) minimum interecheme intervals, (2) mean dominant frequency, (3) minimum dominant frequency, (4) maximum dominant frequency. It can be found that larger males of T. plebejus produce songs of lower frequency and are less silent between echemes.
普氏鸣蝉是伊朗北部生态系统中本土最大的蝉。雄性蝉会发出响亮的求偶鸣叫，用于远距离吸引雌性。据推测，雌性基于被动和主动机制的组合来选择配偶，但尚不清楚她是否会选择体型，也不清楚雄性的体型是否与求偶鸣叫的任何特征相关。在本研究中，我们报告了普氏鸣蝉雄性的求偶鸣叫特征与形态特征之间的关系。研究于2010年夏季在伊朗北部进行。采集了17只雄性蝉，并在自然环境中记录它们的求偶鸣叫。测量了两个形态特征：体长和体重。分析了求偶鸣叫的10个关键声学变量值的最大值、最小值和平均值：乐句持续时间、乐句第1部分、乐句第2部分、每分钟乐句数量、音组持续时间、音组周期、音组间间隔、每秒音组数量、音组/音组间比率以及主频。使用简单线性回归测试数据，以确定形态与声学变量之间的关联程度。总之，在鸣叫结构方面，体长与（1）平均音组持续时间、（2）平均音组/音组间比率、（3）最大音组/音组间比率之间存在三个显著的正相关。我们还发现体长和体重与（1）最小音组间间隔、（2）平均主频、（3）最小主频、（4）最大主频之间存在四个显著的负相关，体重与（1）最小音组间间隔、（2）平均主频、（3）最小主频、（4）最大主频之间也存在四个显著的负相关。可以发现，体型较大的普氏鸣蝉雄性发出的鸣叫频率较低，且音组间的静音时间较短。
