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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Acharya L, McNeil JN (1998) Predation risk and mating behavior: the responses of moths to bat-like ultrasound. Behav Ecol 9:552–558
Agee HR (1969) Acoustic sensitivity of the European corn borer moth, Ostrinia nubilalis. Ann Entomol Soc Am 62:1364–1367
Ando T, Inomata S, Yamamoto M (2004) Lepidopteran sex pheromones. Top Curr Chem 239:51–96
Conner WE (1999) ‘Un chant d’appel amoureux’: acoustic communication in moths. J Exp Biol 202:1711–1723
Dahm KH, Meyer D, Finn WE, Reinhold V, Röller H (1971) The olfactory and auditory mediated sex attraction in Achroia grisella (Fabr.). Naturwissenschaften 58:265–266
Fullard JH (1998) The sensory coevolution of moths and bats. In: Hoy RR, Popper AN, Fay RR (eds) Comparative hearing: insects. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 279–326
Greenfield MD (2002) Signalers and receivers: mechanisms and evolution of arthropod communication. Oxford Univ. Press, New York
Greenfield MD, Weber T (2000) Evolution of ultrasonic signaling in wax moths: discrimination of ultrasonic mating calls from bat echolocation signals and the exploitation of an anti-predator receiver bias by sexual advertisement. Ethol Ecol Evol 12:259–279
Heller K-G, Krahe R (1994) Sound production and hearing in the pyralid moth Symmoracma minoralis. J Exp Biol 187:101–111
Huber F, Thorson J (1985) Cricket auditory communication. Sci Am 253:60–68
Ishikawa Y, Takanashi T, Kim C, Hoshizaki S, Tatsuki S, Huang Y (1999) Ostrinia spp. in Japan: their host plants and sex pheromones. Entomol Exp Appl 91:237–244
Jang Y, Greenfield MD (1996) Ultrasonic communication and sexual selection in wax moths: female choice based on energy and asynchrony of male signals. Anim Behav 51:1095–1106
Mehta CR, Patel NR (1983) A network algorithm for performing Fisher’s exact test in r × c contingency tables. J Am Stat Assoc 78:427–434
Sanderford MV, Conner WE (1995) Acoustic courtship communication in Syntomeida epilais Wlk. (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Ctenuchinae). J Insect Behav 8:19–31
Sanderford MV, Coro F, Conner WE (1998) Courtship behavior in Empyreuma affinis Roths. (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae, Ctenuchinae): acoustic signals and tympanic organ response. Naturwissenschaften 85:82–87
Siemers BM, Kalko EKV, Schnitzler HU (2001) Echolocation behavior and signal plasticity in the neotropical bat Myotis nigricans (Schinz, 1821) (Vespertilionidae): a convergent case with European species of Pipistrellus? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 50:317–328
Skals N, Anderson P, Kanneworff M, Löfstedt C, Surlykke A (2005) Her odours make him deaf: crossmodal modulation of olfaction and hearing in a male moth. J Exp Biol 208:595–601
Spangler HG (1988) Moth hearing, defense, and communication. Annu Rev Entomol 33:59–81
Spangler HG, Greenfield MD, Takessian A (1984) Ultrasonic mate calling in the lesser wax moth. Physiol Entomol 9:87–95
Acknowledgements
We thank Sugihiko Hoshizaki and four anonymous reviewers for the comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 16208005 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and by the Danish Research Agency. The experiments comply with the current laws in Japan and Denmark where they were performed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nakano, R., Ishikawa, Y., Tatsuki, S. et al. Ultrasonic courtship song in the Asian corn borer moth, Ostrinia furnacalis . Naturwissenschaften 93, 292–296 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0100-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0100-7