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Janža R, Stritih-Peljhan N, Škorjanc A, Polajnar J, Virant-Doberlet M. Vibrational noise disrupts Nezara viridula communication, irrespective of spectral overlap. Commun Biol 2024; 7:1533. [PMID: 39562693 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-07185-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 10/31/2024] [Indexed: 11/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Insects rely on substrate vibrations in numerous intra- and interspecific interactions. Yet, our knowledge of noise impact in this modality lags behind that in audition, limiting our understanding of how anthropogenic noise affects insect communities. Auditory research has linked impaired signal perception in noise (i.e., masking) to spectral overlap. We investigated the impact of noise with different spectral compositions on the vibrational communication of the stink bug Nezara viridula, examining courtship behaviour and signal representation by sensory neurons. We found negative effects of vibrational noise regardless of spectral overlap, challenging common expectations. Noise impaired the ability of males to recognize the female signal and localise its source: overlapping noise decreased sensitivity of receptor neurons to the signal and disrupted signal frequency encoding by phase-locking units, while non-overlapping noise only affected frequency encoding. Modelling neuronal spike triggering in sensory neurons linked disrupted frequency encoding to interference-induced alterations of the signal waveform. These alterations also affected time delays between signal arrivals to different legs, crucial for localisation. Our study thus unveils a new masking mechanism, potentially unique to insect vibrosensory systems. The findings highlight the higher vulnerability of vibration-mediated behaviour to noise, with implications for insect interactions in natural and anthropogenically altered environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rok Janža
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 121, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Nataša Stritih-Peljhan
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 121, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Aleš Škorjanc
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jernej Polajnar
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 121, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Meta Virant-Doberlet
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 121, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Čokl A, Žunič Kosi A, Laumann RA, Virant-Doberlet M. Female competition for availability of males in insects: the Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758) model. INSECT SCIENCE 2020; 27:801-814. [PMID: 31099971 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Revised: 05/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Multimodal communication in solitary stinkbugs enables them to meet, mate and copulate. Many plant-dwelling species exchange information during the calling phase of mating behavior using substrate-borne vibratory signals. A female-biased gender ratio induces rivalry and competition for a sexual partner. Female competition for males, first described among Heteroptera in three stinkbug species, revealed species specific differences and opened the question of plasticity in individually emitted temporal and frequency signal characteristics during calling and rival alternation. To address this question and gain an insight into the mechanisms underlying stinkbug female rivalry, we compared the characteristics of alternated signals in the southern green stinkbug Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Compared to male rivalry, female rivalry is more complex, lasts longer and runs through successive phases by a combination of different song types. The male pheromone triggers alternation between females, producing song pulses that occasionally overlap each other. One female initiates the rivalry by changing individual pulses into pulse trains of three different types. The competing female alternates with pulses of changed temporal characteristics at lower levels of rivalry and by varying the frequency characteristics of pulse trains at higher levels. During female rivalry, the male either stops responding or occasionally emits calling and courtship signals in response to the female that has produced signals of steady temporal characteristics. Female rivalry shows complex and species specific patterns of information exchange at different levels with a broad-range variation of temporal and frequency characteristics of, until now, unidentified vibratory emissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrej Čokl
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, SI-1000, Slovenia
| | - Alenka Žunič Kosi
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, SI-1000, Slovenia
| | - Raul Alberto Laumann
- Semiochemicals Laboratory, Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasilia, DF, 71070, Brazil
| | - Meta Virant-Doberlet
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, SI-1000, Slovenia
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Virant-Doberlet M, Kuhelj A, Polajnar J, Šturm R. Predator-Prey Interactions and Eavesdropping in Vibrational Communication Networks. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Bianchi FM, Genevcius BC, Vicentini BDS. Heterospecific mating between distantly related species of stink bugs and its evolutionary implications. J NAT HIST 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1395095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Filipe M. Bianchi
- Department of Zoology, Bioscience Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | | | - Barbara da S. Vicentini
- Department of Zoology, Bioscience Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Kuhelj A, Virant-Doberlet M. Male-male interactions and male mating success in the leafhopper Aphrodes makarovi. Ethology 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anka Kuhelj
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research; National Institute of Biology; Ljubljana Slovenia
| | - Meta Virant-Doberlet
- Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research; National Institute of Biology; Ljubljana Slovenia
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Shestakov LS. A comparative analysis of vibrational signals in 16 sympatric bug species (Pentatomidae, Heteroptera). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1134/s0013873815030045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Čokl A, Laumann RA, Žunič Kosi A, Blassioli-Moraes MC, Virant-Doberlet M, Borges M. Interference of Overlapping Insect Vibratory Communication Signals: An Eushistus heros Model. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0130775. [PMID: 26098637 PMCID: PMC4476573 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Accepted: 05/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Plants limit the range of insect substrate-borne vibratory communication by their architecture and mechanical properties that change transmitted signal time, amplitude and frequency characteristics. Stinkbugs gain higher signal-to-noise ratio and increase communication distance by emitting narrowband low frequency vibratory signals that are tuned with transmission properties of plants. The objective of the present study was to investigate hitherto overlooked consequences of duetting with mutually overlapped narrowband vibratory signals. The overlapped vibrations of the model stinkbug species Eushistus heros, produced naturally or induced artificially on different plants, have been analysed. They represent female and male strategies to preserve information within a complex masked signal. The brown stinkbugs E. heros communicate with species and gender specific vibratory signals that constitute characteristic duets in the calling, courtship and rivalry phases of mating behaviour. The calling female pulse overlaps the male vibratory response when the latency of the latter is shorter than the duration of the female triggering signal or when the male response does not inhibit the following female pulse. Overlapping of signals induces interference that changes their amplitude pattern to a sequence of regularly repeated pulses in which their duration and the difference between frequencies of overlapped vibrations are related inversely. Interference does not occur in overlapped narrow band female calling pulses and broadband male courtship pulse trains. In a duet with overlapped signals females and males change time parameters and increase the frequency difference between signals by changing the frequency level and frequency modulation pattern of their calls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrej Čokl
- Department of Entomology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- * E-mail:
| | - Raul Alberto Laumann
- Semiochemical Laboratory, EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasilia, Brazil
| | - Alenka Žunič Kosi
- Department of Entomology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | | | - Miguel Borges
- Semiochemical Laboratory, EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasilia, Brazil
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Demarta L, Hibbard BE, Bohn MO, Hiltpold I. The role of root architecture in foraging behavior of entomopathogenic nematodes. J Invertebr Pathol 2014; 122:32-9. [PMID: 25149039 DOI: 10.1016/j.jip.2014.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2014] [Revised: 08/05/2014] [Accepted: 08/11/2014] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
As obligate parasites, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) rely on insect hosts to complete their development. In insect pest management, EPN infectiousness has varied a lot. A better understanding of their host-finding behavior in the rhizosphere is therefore crucial to enhance EPN potential in biological control. As previously demonstrated, roots can be used as a pathway to insect hosts by EPN, but this interaction and its impact on EPN foraging remain poorly documented. Three artificial model-roots with different degrees of complexity and connectivity were designed to investigate the impact of root architecture on foraging behavior of the EPN Heterorhabditis megidis. Insect baits were placed at the bottom of each model-root that was subsequently buried in moist sand. After injection of the EPN, the number of EPN-infected baits as well as the number of mature nematodes inside each individual carcass was recorded. The influence of insect-induced root volatiles was also evaluated by spiking the baits with a synthetic version of a natural insect-induced root cue. The ecological relevance of the results was tested in soil with two maize genotypes each exhibiting broadly different root architectures. H. megidi performed better in presence of model-roots. Foraging performances of H. megidis declined with the increasing model-root complexity. Adding the synthetic root volatile dramatically changed this pattern and favored the EPN on the most complex model-roots. H. megidis also moved in the vicinity of maize roots to find the insect baits in soil, and natural root architecture also tended to shape H. megidis foraging behavior. This study adds to the scarce body of literature characterizing physical and chemical interactions between EPN and roots. The present data illustrate that root architecture not only modifies plant quality but also shapes upper trophic levels' ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lanila Demarta
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, 205 Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Bruce E Hibbard
- USDA-ARS, Plant Genetic Research, University of Missouri, 205 Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Martin O Bohn
- Maize Breeding and Genetics, Crop Science Department, University of Illinois, S-110 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Ivan Hiltpold
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, 205 Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
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Vibrational Communication Networks: Eavesdropping and Biotic Noise. ANIMAL SIGNALS AND COMMUNICATION 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-43607-3_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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Tremulatory and abdomen vibration signals enable communication through air in the stink bug Euschistus heros. PLoS One 2013; 8:e56503. [PMID: 23460803 PMCID: PMC3584064 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2012] [Accepted: 01/15/2013] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Communication by substrate-borne mechanical signals is widespread among animals but remains one of their least understood communication channels. Past studies of vibrational communication in insects have been oriented predominantly to communication during mating, showing that species- and sex-specific vibrational signals enable recognition and localization of potential mates on continuous solid substrates. No special attention has been paid to vibrational signals with less obvious specificity as well as to the possibility of vibrational communication across substrates that are not in physical contact. We aimed to reinvestigate emission of the aforementioned vibrational signals transmitted through a plant in the stink bug Euschistus heros (Pentatomidae: Pentatominae) and to check whether individuals are able to communicate across adjecent, physically separated substrates. We used laser vibrometry for registration of substrate-borne vibrational signals on a bean plant. Using two bean plants separated for 3 to 7 cm between two most adjacent leaves, we investigated the possibility of transmission of these signals through air. Our study showed that males and females of E. heros communicate using tremulatory, percussion and buzzing signals in addition to the previously described signals produced by vibrations of the abdomen. Contrary to the latter, the first three signal types did not differ between sexes or between pentatomid species. Experiments with two physically separated plants showed significant searching behaviour and localization of vibrational signals of an E. heros male or a female, in response to abdominal vibration produced signals of a pair duetting on the neighbouring plant, in comparison to control where no animals were on the neighbouring plant. We also confirmed that transmission through air causes amplitude and frequency decay of vibrational signals, which suggests high-amplitude, low-frequency tremulatory signals of these stink bugs their most plausible way of communication across discontinuous substrates.
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