Variation in the calls of crickets and frogs
Poster Number
19
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Marcos Gridi-Papp
Faculty Mentor Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract/Artist Statement
Sexual selection drives males of numerous species to develop conspicuous and costly ornaments or advertisement signals to attract mates. In nocturnal animals, males commonly strive to optimize the use of their limited energy budget to attract mates through advertisement callings. We monitored the calling of individual male crickets (Acheta domesticus) and tungara frogs (Engystomops pustulosus) 24 hours a day for at least one week in almost identical acoustic environments to identify common patterns in their calling strategies. For each individual, we analyzed 10 minutes of the greatest activity and measured frequency, duration, amplitude, and period for each pulse and call. The frog's calling activity was more concentrated in time, and the peak activity occurred earlier in the night than in crickets. Frogs produced approximately a third of the total amount of calls the crickets produced. Both frogs and crickets exhibited larger coefficients of variation (CV) among individuals than within individuals for all call variables. Both CVs were highly similar for call frequency and duration, but the cricket calls were 50% more variable in amplitude than the frog calls. This initial analysis indicated that given a same environmental setting, crickets and frogs differ in time allocation of their signaling efforts, but have similar variability in their signals. Future work should examine effort allocation and variability at finer time scales and explore the adjustments produced by each organism in response to environmental change.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Start Date
26-4-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
26-4-2014 4:00 PM
Variation in the calls of crickets and frogs
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Sexual selection drives males of numerous species to develop conspicuous and costly ornaments or advertisement signals to attract mates. In nocturnal animals, males commonly strive to optimize the use of their limited energy budget to attract mates through advertisement callings. We monitored the calling of individual male crickets (Acheta domesticus) and tungara frogs (Engystomops pustulosus) 24 hours a day for at least one week in almost identical acoustic environments to identify common patterns in their calling strategies. For each individual, we analyzed 10 minutes of the greatest activity and measured frequency, duration, amplitude, and period for each pulse and call. The frog's calling activity was more concentrated in time, and the peak activity occurred earlier in the night than in crickets. Frogs produced approximately a third of the total amount of calls the crickets produced. Both frogs and crickets exhibited larger coefficients of variation (CV) among individuals than within individuals for all call variables. Both CVs were highly similar for call frequency and duration, but the cricket calls were 50% more variable in amplitude than the frog calls. This initial analysis indicated that given a same environmental setting, crickets and frogs differ in time allocation of their signaling efforts, but have similar variability in their signals. Future work should examine effort allocation and variability at finer time scales and explore the adjustments produced by each organism in response to environmental change.