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Song characteristics and morphological traits in four populations of the grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus L.

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Abstract

We investigated four populations of the grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus with respect to differences in morphological traits and characteristics of their communication signals. A special focus was laid on possible correlations between morphological and song traits of males that could be used by females to infer quality cues of potential mates. We also tested whether females exhibit preferences for males of their own population. Specific song features (onset accentuation, offset, syllable period) of males—but not of females—differed between populations. We observed size differences both in males and females from different populations, but the size ranks of the two sexes were not always correlated. Environmental factors appear to have a strong influence on different size traits, compared to genetic origin. In all populations a specific song feature, the accentuation of syllable onsets, showed a similar correlation with a morphological trait, hind leg size, but its correlation with other size indicators sometimes differed in sign. Females did not prefer songs of males from their own population. The best predictor for song attractiveness was—unexpectedly—not the onset accentuation but the offset depth.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Matthias Hennig for technical support, for the programs we could use for the recording and analysis of songs as well as for the behavioral tests. He and Frieder Mayer gave valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Special thanks go to the Adam Audio GMBH for the generous gift of the high-frequency loudspeakers. Financial support from the German Research Council (DFG), GRK 837 and SFB 618, and the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN, 01GQ1001A) is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Nicole Stange & Bernhard Ronacher

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  1. Nicole Stange
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  2. Bernhard Ronacher
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Correspondence to Nicole Stange.

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Stange, N., Ronacher, B. Song characteristics and morphological traits in four populations of the grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus L.. J Comp Physiol A 198, 763–775 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-012-0746-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-012-0746-x

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