Category Archives: communication

Blow Fly Flashers

Posted on March 27, 2017 by jjneal

Insects have remarkable methods of finding mates in their environment. Insects are known to use odors, sounds and light. Researchers* have discovered that blow fly vision is important in mate recognition. Young female blowflies are heavier than males and their … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, by jjneal, communication | 2 Comments

Follow The Trail

Posted on December 26, 2016 by jjneal

Ants use trail pheromones to recruit additional foragers to a food source. When a foraging ant discovers food, she lays a pheromone trail as she returns to the nest with the food. Other foragers can follow her trail to locate the … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, by jjneal, communication | 1 Comment

Discriminating Sounds

Posted on December 1, 2016 by jjneal

Insect hearing organs vary in their ability to discriminate among sounds. Insects that need hearing to do one thing well, such as warning of an approaching bat, can have an auditory system that only responds to sounds made by bats. … Continue reading →

Posted in by jjneal, communication | 1 Comment

Vive La Différence

Posted on November 29, 2016 by jjneal

If two sounds of different frequencies are played together, they can produce a “difference tone” or a sound that has a frequency that is determined by subtracting the frequency of the lower tone from the higher tone. For example, two adjacent … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, by jjneal, communication | 1 Comment

The Mechanics of Hearing

Posted on November 28, 2016 by jjneal

Flies such as Drosophila hear with their antennae. The base of the antennae, the Johnston’s organ vibrates in response to vibrations in the air (sound). The vibrations mechanically move hairs that are innervated by sound detectors. How is the vibration … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomaterials, by jjneal, communication | 1 Comment

Living With Bat Detectors

Posted on November 26, 2016 by jjneal

Hawkmoths fly at night and are tasty prey for bats. Some hawkmoths have evolved the ability to detect the ultrasonic sounds emitted by bat sonar. The Death Head Hawkmoth and some other moths in the Choerocampina, use a sound detection … Continue reading →

Posted in by jjneal, communication, Taxonomy | 1 Comment

Heard A Mile Away

Posted on November 25, 2016 by jjneal

The Bladder Grasshopper of South Africa, Bullacris membracioides, has a sound detection system that can detect mating calls at great distance. This grasshopper does not have a tympanum like many of the grasshopper species. Instead it has a series of … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, communication | 1 Comment