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Bio

Kendra & Advisor Looking On

Presentation

Male Alexanderi

Paper

Kendra Dagg
University of North Carolina at Asheville

Subject Listing - Biology
Advisor: Dr. Timothy Forrest

Thursday, Oral Session 3, Presentation 1, Karpen Hall 112

EAVESDROPPING BY THE DUETTING KATYDID AMBLYCORYPHA ALEXANDERI (OTHOPTERA, PHANEROPTERINAE)

Katydids in the genus Amblycorypha form duets during reproductive pair formation. Duets between males and females are initiated by the male's calling song and females answer with ticks precisely timed within the male's song. As the duet continues, one or both sexes moves toward the other. Mating follows. Because duets provide information about the location of sexually receptive females, we hypothesized that other males might eavesdrop on a duetting pair and respond by moving toward females. We tested our hypothesis in an indoor arena using duets of Amblycorpha alexanderi. A speaker broadcasting the song of a male was randomly placed at 1 of 8 locations around the arena and the female's speaker was randomly assigned to 1of 2 positions at 90o relative to the male speaker. For each trial (N=21), a single male was placed at the center of the arena and we marked the position (to the nearest 5ø) that he exited the arena. Most males exited the arena within 40ø of the female speaker and the distribution of their azimuths was significantly clumped around the female speaker. Rather than moving directly toward the female signal, male A. alexanderi were more likely to exit between the two speakers. Eavesdropping by male A. alexanderi is probably a behavioral tactic that allows males to locate and mate with females that are answering other competitors.

Advisor: Dr. Timothy Forrest, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC