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Hearing in the crepuscular owl butterfly (Caligo eurilochus, Nymphalidae)

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Abstract

Tympanal organs are widespread in Nymphalidae butterflies, with a great deal of variability in the morphology of these ears. How this variation reflects differences in hearing physiology is not currently understood. This study provides the first examination of hearing organs in the crepuscular owl butterfly, Caligo eurilochus. We examined the tuning and sensitivity of the C. eurilochus hearing organ, called Vogel’s organ, using laser Doppler vibrometry and extracellular neurophysiology. We show that the C. eurilochus ear responds to sound and is most sensitive to frequencies between 1 and 4 kHz, as confirmed by both the vibration of the tympanal membrane and the physiological response of the associated nerve branches. In comparison to the hearing of its diurnally active relative, Morpho peleides, C. eurilochus has a narrower frequency range with higher auditory thresholds. Hypotheses explaining the function of hearing in this crepuscular butterfly are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ed Bruggink (Carleton University) and Vicky Pook (University of Bristol) for help rearing the butterflies. This work was funded by a Journal of Experimental Biology Travelling Fellowship to K.M.L., the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Innovation trust, and NSERC to J.E.Y., the BBSRC to J.F.C.W. and D.R., and the Royal Society (D.R.).

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Author notes

  1. Kathleen M. Lucas

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Kathleen M. Lucas, Jennifer K. Mongrain & Jayne E. Yack

  2. Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XW, UK

    James F. C. Windmill

  3. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK

    Kathleen M. Lucas & Daniel Robert

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  1. Kathleen M. Lucas
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  2. Jennifer K. Mongrain
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  3. James F. C. Windmill
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  4. Daniel Robert
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  5. Jayne E. Yack
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathleen M. Lucas.

Electronic supplementary material

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Online Resource 1. Animation of tympanal deflections in Caligo eurilochus at 2.5 kHz. (MPG 852 kb)

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Lucas, K.M., Mongrain, J.K., Windmill, J.F.C. et al. Hearing in the crepuscular owl butterfly (Caligo eurilochus, Nymphalidae). J Comp Physiol A 200, 891–898 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-014-0933-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-014-0933-z

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