Stridulatory sound-production and its function in females of the cicada Subpsaltria yangi.

ABSTRACT: Acoustic behavior plays a crucial role in many aspects of cicada biology, such as reproduction and intrasexual competition. Although female sound production has been reported in some cicada species, acoustic behavior of female cicadas has received little attention. In cicada Subpsaltria yangi, the females possess a pair of unusually well-developed stridulatory organs. Here, sound production and its function in females of this remarkable cicada species were investigated. We revealed that the females could produce sounds by stridulatory mechanism during pair formation, and the sounds were able to elicit both acoustic and phonotactic responses from males. In addition, the forewings would strike the body during performing stridulatory sound-producing movements, which generated impact sounds. A

SUBMITTER: Luo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4340015 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature