Substrate texture affects female cricket walking response to male calling song
| Autor: | Berthold Hedwig, M. P. F. Sutcliffe, Edith Julieta Sarmiento-Ponce |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Hedwig, Berthold [0000-0002-1132-0056], Sutcliffe, Michael [0000-0001-9729-4460], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, Hedwig, B [0000-0002-1132-0056] |
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine ground-living insects insect walking tarsal claws biomechanics depth profile contact force measurements Acoustics Surface finish ground-living insects Texture (music) 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences biomechanics 03 medical and health sciences Cricket insect walking lcsh:Science Multidisciplinary Cellular composition biology Gryllus bimaculatus Biology (Whole Organism) tarsal claws Substrate (biology) biology.organism_classification Attraction contact force measurements Smooth surface 030104 developmental biology lcsh:Q depth profile human activities Research Article |
| Zdroj: | Royal Society Open Science Royal Society Open Science, Vol 5, Iss 3 (2018) |
| DOI: | 10.17863/cam.39848 |
| Popis: | Field crickets are extensively used as a model organism to study female phonotactic walking behaviour, i.e. their attraction to the male calling song. Laboratory-based phonotaxis experiments generally rely on arena or trackball-based settings; however, no attention has been paid to the effect of substrate texture on the response. Here, we tested phonotaxis in female Gryllus bimaculatus, walking on trackballs machined from methyl-methacrylate foam with different cell sizes. Surface height variations of the trackballs, due to the cellular composition of the material, were measured with profilometry and characterized as smooth, medium or rough, with roughness amplitudes of 7.3, 16 and 180 µm. Female phonotaxis was best on a rough and medium trackball surface, a smooth surface resulted in a significant lower phonotactic response. Claws of the cricket foot were crucial for effective walking. Females insert their claws into the surface pores to allow mechanical interlocking with the substrate texture and a high degree of attachment, which cannot be established on smooth surfaces. These findings provide insight to the biomechanical basis of insect walking and may inform behavioural studies that the surface texture on which walking insects are tested is crucial for the resulting behavioural response. This study is supported by a Mexican CONACyT Cambridge Trust Scholarship to E.J.S.P., Newnham College, the Royal Entomological Society, the Philosophical Society and the Department of Zoology. The equipment used was funded by a BBSRC grant to B.H. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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