The following new bioacoustic article can be found in the latest issue of Naturwissenschaften.
Ryo Nakano, Yukio Ishikawa, Sadahiro Tatsuki, Annemarie Surlykke, Niels Skals, Takuma Takanashi (2006): Ultrasonic courtship song in the Asian corn borer moth, Ostrinia furnacalis. Naturwissenschaften 93(6), 292-296 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-006-0100-7 Abstract Although sex pheromone communication in the genus Ostrinia (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) has been studied intensively, acoustic communication in this genus has not been explored. In this study, we report that male-produced ultrasound serves as a courtship song in the Asian corn borer moth, O. furnacalis. Upon landing close to a pheromone-releasing female, a male showed a series of courtship behaviors involving emission of ultrasound. The sounds were produced when the wings were vibrated quickly in an upright position. The male song was composed of chirps, i.e., groups of pulses (duration of a chirp = 58.9 ms, 8.8 pulses/chirp), with a broadband frequency of 25-100 kHz. In flight tunnel experiments, deaf and hearing females showed a significant difference in the incidence of three behavioral responses to courting males, i.e., immediate acceptance, acceptance after walking, and rejection. Deaf females showed more 'rejection' and less 'acceptance after walking' than hearing females, indicating that the detection of male-produced ultrasound plays an important role in the acceptance of a male. The findings are discussed in the context of exploitation of receiver bias and mate choice. Enjoy! Sonja Amoser ------------------------------------ University of Vienna, Dept. of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Sonja Amoser PhD Student, Research Associate [EMAIL PROTECTED] Althanstrasse 14 1090 Vienna Austria tel: +43 (1) 4277 54467 fax: +43 (1) 4277 54506 mobile: +43 (664) 500 61 06 ------------------------------------
