Calling song of two sympatric species of cricket Phylloscyrtini (Orthoptera Gryllidae Trigonidiinae)

Abstract

The calling song of the crickets Phylloscyrtus amoenus and Cranistus colliurides are described and compared for the first time. These species are sympatric, and stridulate at the same time at day/night on shrubs and grasses surrounding a Brazilian semi-deciduous forest in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. We analyzed the dominant frequency and temporal parameters of the calling song of both species in order to clarify parameters that allow the sound to be effective in attracting conspecific mates. We found that their calling song was a continuous trill with the same dominant frequency, but temporal parameters such as pulse period, pulse rate and sound cycles per pulse were different, suggesting females could use them to find specific mates. © 2013 Copyright 2013 Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica dell'Università, Firenze, Italia.