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Analysis of the Stridulation in Solifuges (Arachnida: Solifugae)

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Abstract

Stridulation in solifuges has not been investigated yet. We performed a comparative analysis of the stridulatory organs and sounds produced by juveniles of various developmental stages and adults (both sexes) of Galeodes caspius subfuscus Birula. The stridulatory organ is of similar morphology in all developmental stages. The sound that they produced was a broad frequency hissing, composed of one or two chirps with maximum at 2.4 kHz. The intensity of the sound was found to increase with body size. Otherwise, no differences were observed between stridulation in juvenile, male and female individuals. Therefore, we suggest that the stridulation in solifuges has primarily a defensive role. As solifuges are neither venomous nor unpalatable, they might imitate an accoustically aposematic organism that shares the same habitat and has similar circadian activity, e.g. vipers. It may also have an intraspecific function in reduction of cannibalistic tendencies.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by NATO-Science project no. LST.CLG.980430 and the projects no. ME851 and 0021622416 of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. MH was also supported by project no. 20061431C008 of the Masaryk University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic

    Martina Hrušková-Martišová & Stano Pekár

  2. Institute of Zoology, Akademgorodok, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Alexandr Gromov

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  1. Martina Hrušková-Martišová
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  2. Stano Pekár
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  3. Alexandr Gromov
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Correspondence to Stano Pekár.

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Hrušková-Martišová, M., Pekár, S. & Gromov, A. Analysis of the Stridulation in Solifuges (Arachnida: Solifugae). J Insect Behav 21, 440–449 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-008-9141-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-008-9141-4

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