Abstract
Palomena prasina is interesting for the study of vibrational communication within the Pentatomid subfamily Pentatominae, because its host range is limited to woody plants, unlike the better known Nezara viridula, whose vibrational communication is commonly used as a model for the whole family. The vibrational repertoire of P. prasina was described several decades ago and is redescribed in this paper using modern methods for non-contact vibration recording. Additionally, we hypothesized that this species has retained the capacity for signal frequency variation necessary for tuning to resonance properties of various host plants of Pentatominae, but if the signals are emited in the absence of mechanical feedback, they are tuned more specifically to their native acoustic environment — woody plants. By recording live bugs signalling on different substrates and comparing spectral properties of their signals among substrates, we found that there is a match between the signals emitted on a woody branch and those emitted on a non-resonant surface, while spectral properties of signals emitted on herbaceous plants differ. Our findings provide evidence in support of the signal tuning hypothesis and shed further light on the crucial role of substrate in vibrational communication of insects.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alford D.V., Pests of fruit crops: a color handbook, Academic Press, Burlington, MA, 2007
Tuncer C., Saruhan İ., Akça İ., The insect pest problem affecting hazelnut kernel quality in Turkey, Acta Hortic., 2005, 686, 367–375
Čokl A., Gogala A., Blaževič A., Principles of sound recognition in three Pentatomide bug species (Heteroptera), Biol. Vestn., 1978, 26, 81–94
Čokl A., Virant-Doberlet M., Communication with substrate-borne signals in small plant-dwelling insects, Ann. Rev. Entomol., 2003, 48, 29–50
Čokl A., Stink bug interaction with host plants during communication, J. Insect Physiol., 2008, 54, 1113–1124
Michelsen A., Flemming F., Gogala M., Traue D., Plants as transmission channels for insect vibrational songs, Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 1982, 11, 269–281
Magal C., Schöller M., Tautz J., Casas J., The role of leaf structure in vibration propagation, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 2000, 108, 2412–2418
Čokl A., Plants as medium for communication with mechanical vibrations, In: Sapri R.C. (Ed.), Mechanical vibrations: measurement, effects and control, Nova Science Publishers, inc., New York, NY, 2009
Čokl A., Žunič A., Virant-Doberlet M., Predatory bug Picromerus bidens communicates at different frequency levels, Cent. Eur. J. Biol, 2011, 6, 431–439
Polajnar J., Svenšek D., Čokl A., Resonance in herbaceous plant stems as a factor in vibrational communication of pentatomid bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), J. R. Soc. Interface, 2012, 9, 1898–1907
McVean A., Field L.H., Communication by substratum vibration in the New Zealand tree weta, Hemideina femorata (Stenopelmatidae: Orthoptera), J. Zool., Lond., 1996, 239, 101–122
Virant-Doberlet M., Čokl A., Vibrational Communication in Insects, Neotrop. Entomol., 2004, 33, 121–134
Todd J.W., Ecology and behavior of Nezara viridula, Ann. Rev. Entomol., 1989, 34, 273–292
Panizzi A.R., McPherson J.E., James D.G., Javahery M., McPherson R.M., Stink bugs (Pentatomidae), In: Schaefer C.W., Panizzi A.R. (Eds.), Heteroptera of economic importance, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2000
McNett G.D., Cocroft R.B., Host shifts favor vibrational signal divergence in Enchenopa binotata treehoppers, Behav. Ecol., 2008, 16, 650–656
Žunič A., Virant-Doberlet M., Čokl A., Species recognition during substrate-borne communication in Nezara viridula (L.) (Pentatomidae: Heteroptera), J. Insect Behav., 2011, 24, 468–487
Polajnar J., Čokl A., The effect of vibratory disturbance on sexual behaviour of the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae), Centr. Eur. J. Biol., 2008, 3, 189–197
Charif R.A., Waack A.M., Strickman L.M., Raven Pro 1.4 User’s Manual, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, 2010
Čokl A., McBrien H.L., Millar J.G., Comparison of substrate-borne vibrational signals of two stink bug species, Acrosternum hilare and Nezara viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Ann. Ent. Soc. Am., 2001, 94, 471–479
R Development Core Team, R: A language and environment for statistical computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, 2011
Čokl A., Virant-Doberlet M., Stritih N., Structure and function of songs emitted by southern green stink bugs from Brazil, Florida, Italy and Slovenia, Physiol. Entomol., 2000, 25, 196–205
Blassioli Moraes M.C., Laumann R.A., Čokl A., Borges M., Vibratory signals of four Neotropical stink bug species, Physiol. Entomol, 2005, 30, 175–188
McBrien H.L., Čokl A., Millar J.G., Comparison of substrate-borne vibrational signals of two congeneric stink bug species, Thyanta pallidovirens and T. custator accera (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), J. Ins. Behav., 2002, 15, 715–738
Pavlovčič P., Čokl A., Songs of Holcostethus strictus (Fabricius): a different repertoire among landbugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Behav. Proc., 2001, 53, 65–73
Cavalcante A., Silva C., Laumann R.A., Cavalcante Ferreira J.B., Blassioli Moraes M.C., Borges M., et al., Reproductive biology, mating behavior, and vibratory communication of the Brown-Winged Stink Bug, Edessa meditabunda (Fabr.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Psyche, 2012, 2012, 1–9
Gogala M., Vibratory signals produced by Heteroptera — Pentatomomorpha and Cimicomorpha, In: Drosopoulos S., Claridge M.F. (Eds.), Insect sounds and communication, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2006
Čokl A., Zorović M., Žunič A., Virant-Doberlet M., Tuning of host plants with vibratory songs of Nezara viridula L (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), J. Exp. Biol., 2005, 208, 1481–1488
Cocroft R.B., Rodríguez R.L., Hunt R.E., Host shifts and signal divergence: mating signals covary with host use in a complex of specialized plant-feeding insects, Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 2012, 99, 60–72
Rodríguez R.L., Ramaswamy K., Cocroft R.B., Evidence that female preferences have shaped signal evolution in a clade of specialized plantfeeding insects, Proc. R. Soc. B, 2006, 273, 2585–2593
Sullivan-Beckers L., Cocroft R.B., The importance of female choice, male-male competition, and signal transmission as causes of selection on male mating signals, Evolution, 2010, 64, 3158–3171
Elias D.O., Mason A.C., Hoy R.R., The effect of substrate on the efficacy of seismic courtship signal transmission in the jumping spider Habronattus dossenus (Araneae: Salticidae), J. Exp. Biol., 2004, 207, 4105–4110
Henry C.S., Martínez Wells M.L., Adaptation or random change? The evolutionary response of songs to substrate properties in lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae: Chrysoperla), Anim. Behav., 2004, 68, 879–895
Cocroft R.B., Rodríguez R.L., The Behavioral Ecology of Insect Vibrational Communication, BioScience, 2005, 55, 323–334
Endler J.A., Signals, signal conditions, and the direction of evolution, Am. Nat., 1992, 139, S125–S153
Endler J.A., Some general comments on the evolution and design of animal communication systems, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 1993, 340, 215–225
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Polajnar, J., Kavčič, A., Kosi, A.Ž. et al. Palomena prasina (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) vibratory signals and their tuning with plant substrates. cent.eur.j.biol. 8, 670–680 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0188-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0188-z