Benavides-Lopez Jose Luis, Ter Hofstede Hannah, Robillard Tony
Institut de Systématique, Evolution et Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France.
Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.
Naturwissenschaften. 2020 Jan 16;107(1):9. doi: 10.1007/s00114-020-1666-1.
Understanding the evolutionary origins of communication signals requires careful study of multiple species within a known phylogenetic framework. Most cricket species produce low-frequency calls for mate attraction, whereas they startle to high-frequency sounds similar to bat echolocation. Male crickets in the tribe Lebinthini produce high-frequency calls, to which females reply with vibrational signals. This novel communication system likely evolved by male sensory exploitation of acoustic startle to high-frequency sounds in females. This behavior was previously described for the Lebinthini from Asia. Here we demonstrate that this novel communication system is found in a Neotropical species, Ponca hebardi, and is therefore likely shared by the whole tribe Lebinthini, dating the origin of this behavior to coincide with the origin of echolocation in bats. Furthermore, we document male duets involving both acoustic and vibratory signals not previously described in crickets, and we tentatively interpret it as competitive masking between males.
要理解通讯信号的进化起源，需要在已知的系统发育框架内对多个物种进行仔细研究。大多数蟋蟀物种发出低频叫声以吸引配偶，而它们会对类似于蝙蝠回声定位的高频声音产生惊吓反应。Lebinthini族的雄性蟋蟀发出高频叫声，雌性则以振动信号回应。这种新颖的通讯系统可能是通过雄性对雌性对高频声音的惊吓反应进行感官利用而进化而来的。这种行为此前已在亚洲的Lebinthini族中有所描述。在此，我们证明这种新颖的通讯系统在新热带物种庞卡赫巴迪（Ponca hebardi）中也存在，因此整个Lebinthini族可能都有这种系统，将这种行为的起源追溯到与蝙蝠回声定位起源相吻合的时期。此外，我们记录了雄性蟋蟀之间涉及声学和振动信号的二重奏，这是此前在蟋蟀中未曾描述过的，我们初步将其解释为雄性之间的竞争性掩蔽。
