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© 1993 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

research-article

Reliable acoustic cues for female mate preference in a katydid (Scudderia curvicauda, Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

John F. Tuckerman, Darryl T. Gwynne and Glenn K. Morris

Biology Group, Erindale College, University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada

Address reprint requests to D. T. Gwynne.

ABSTRACT

The call of male Scudderia curvicauda (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) consists of a series of phrases, and each phrase contains syllables. Females respond to the male signal with ticks that follow male phrases after a specific period of time. Pair formation takes place after males locate the female using her response sounds. Repeated recordings of males revealed that the average number of syllables produced per phrase was a table, within-male parameter and that this parameter was a reliable predictor of male size (pronotum length). Thus, phrase length could be a reliable cue by which females evaluate males. We presented virgin females with a sequential choice of two tape-recorded male calls that differed only in the mean number of syllables produced per phrase. Two different playback tapes were used, and each female was tested on each of 5 consecutive days with the same playback tape. Females responded more often and with a greater number of ticks to calls containing more syllables per phrase, and this preference was maintained throughout the testing period. Male size was a poor predictor of the size of the spermatophore food-gift produced by the male; therefore, females are probably not selecting males for this attribute. For one of the playback tapes, there was a significant increase in female responsiveness over several playback trials, suggesting that females may employ a falling-threshold tactic with respect to mate preference.

Key words: tettigoniidae, spermatophore, calling song, mate choice.


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