Comparing cricket ears

Authors

  • Glenn K. Morris Dept. of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd., Ont. L5L 1C6, Canada

Keywords:

Respiratory mechanics, Speech, Speech analysis, Carrier wavelength, Cricket, Tracheae

Abstract

The basic differences in response activity of the male and female cricket and a comparison of their musical calls were investigated. It was observed that most crickets call at a carrier wavelength near 4kHz, which is 7 cm and longer than any cricket's body dimensions. It was also found that female crickets were able localize singing males despite having a small body to create useful side-to-side amplitude differences by body diffraction. It was observed that tracheae in the ear anatomy of the cricket are branching and interconnected tubes, reinforced by spiraled exoskeleton. They conduct respiratory gases throughout the insect body and are preadapted to conduct sound. A trachea runs bodyward along the leg to the prothoracic segment. The cross-body trachea, together with the two leg tracheae comprised an acoustic system, with four entry points for sound, enabling the female cricket to localize a singing male.

Additional Files

Published

2006-12-01

How to Cite

1.
Morris GK. Comparing cricket ears. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 2006 Dec. 1 [cited 2024 Apr. 25];34(4):44-5. Available from: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/1858

Issue

Section

Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada