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Bedoya CL, Nelson XJ, Brockerhoff EG, Pawson S, Hayes M. Experimental characterization and automatic identification of stridulatory sounds inside wood. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:220217. [PMID: 35911201 PMCID: PMC9326298 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The propagation of animal vocalizations in water and in air is a well-studied phenomenon, but sound produced by bark and wood-boring insects, which feed and reproduce inside trees, is poorly understood. Often being confined to the dark and chemically saturated habitat of wood, many bark- and woodborers have developed stridulatory mechanisms to communicate acoustically. Despite their ecological and economic importance and the unusual medium used for acoustic communication, very little is known about sound production in these insects, or their acoustic interactions inside trees. Here, we use bark beetles (Scolytinae) as a model system to study the effects of wooden tissue on the propagation of insect stridulations and propose algorithms for their automatic identification. We characterize distance dependence of the spectral parameters of stridulatory sounds, propose data-based models for the power decay of the stridulations in both outer and inner bark, provide optimal spectral ranges for stridulation detectability and develop automatic methods for their detection and identification. We also discuss the acoustic discernibility of species cohabitating the same log. The species tested can be acoustically identified with 99% of accuracy at distances up to 20 cm and detected to the greatest extent in the 2-6 kHz frequency band. Phloem was a better medium for sound transmission than bark.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol L. Bedoya
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Ximena J. Nelson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- SCION (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), PO Box 29237, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Stephen Pawson
- SCION (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), PO Box 29237, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Michael Hayes
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Bedoya CL, Brockerhoff EG, Hayes M, Leskey TC, Morrison WR, Rice KB, Nelson XJ. Brown marmorated stink bug overwintering aggregations are not regulated through vibrational signals during autumn dispersal. R Soc Open Sci 2020; 7:201371. [PMID: 33391809 PMCID: PMC7735358 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 10/30/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), is regarded as one of the world's most pernicious invasive pest species, as it feeds on a wide range of economically important crops. During the autumn dispersal period, H. halys ultimately moves to potential overwintering sites, such as human-made structures or trees where it will alight and seek out a final overwintering location, often aggregating with other adults. The cues used during this process are unknown, but may involve vibrational signals. We evaluated whether vibrational signals regulate cluster aggregation in H. halys in overwintering site selection. We collected acoustic data for six weeks during the autumn dispersal period and used it to quantify movement and detect vibrational communication of individuals colonizing overwintering shelters. Both movement and vibrational signal production increased after the second week, reaching their maxima in week four, before decaying again. We found that only males produced vibrations in this context, yet there was no correlation between movement and vibrational signals, which was confirmed through playback experiments. The cues regulating the formation of aggregations remain largely unknown, but vibrations may indicate group size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol L. Bedoya
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), Christchurch, New Zealand
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hayes
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Tracy C. Leskey
- USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, WV, USA
| | - William R. Morrison
- USDA-ARS, Center for Animal Health and Grain Research, 1515 College Ave, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
| | - Kevin B. Rice
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, 1-33 Agriculture Building, Columbia MO 65211, USA
| | - Ximena J. Nelson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol L. Bedoya
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | | | - Ximena J. Nelson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Michael Hayes
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | | | - Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), Christchurch, New Zealand
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Bedoya CL, Nelson XJ, Hayes M, Hofstetter RW, Atkinson TH, Brockerhoff EG. First report of luminous stimuli eliciting sound production in weevils. Naturwissenschaften 2019; 106:17. [PMID: 31020391 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-019-1619-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Light-based stimuli elicited acoustic responses in male Hylesinus aculeatus Say (Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Hylesinina) instantaneously, with 100% reliability. Stridulations were elicited with a white light beam in a dark environment and recorded with an ultrasonic microphone. Acoustic responses were consistent, and, when compared with sounds produced under stressful conditions (i.e. physical stimulation), no significant differences were found. Hylesinus aculeatus possess an elytro-tergal stridulatory organ and acoustic communication is only present in males. This is also the first report of acoustic communication for this species. Instantaneous light-elicited acoustic communication has potential applications in the development of electronic traps and real-time acoustic detection and identification of beetles, border biosecurity, and noise-reduction in acoustic data collection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol L Bedoya
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand.
| | - Ximena J Nelson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Michael Hayes
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | | | - Thomas H Atkinson
- University of Texas Insect Collection, Biodiversity Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Eckehard G Brockerhoff
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), P.O. Box 29237, Christchurch, 8540, New Zealand
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