The process of pair formation mediated by substrate-borne vibrations in a small insect

• Published in: Behavioural processes Vol. 107; pp. 68 - 78
• Main Authors: Polajnar, Jernej, Eriksson, Anna, Rossi Stacconi, Marco Valerio, Lucchi, Andrea, Anfora, Gianfranco, Virant-Doberlet, Meta, Mazzoni, Valerio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-09-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal Communication; Animal ethology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Courtship; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Hemiptera - physiology; Identification; Localization; Male; Mating behaviour; Pair Bond; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Scaphoideus titanus; Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology; Space Perception - physiology; Vibration; Vibrational communication; Scaphoideus titanus; Vibrational communication; Mating behaviour; Courtship; Identification; Localization; Vibration; Insecta; Sexual behavior; Courtship behavior; Substrate; Cicadomorpha; Homoptera; Arthropoda; Pair formation; Mechanical stimulus; Invertebrata; Cicadellidae; Communication
• ISSN: 0376-6357; 1872-8308
• DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.07.013

•Scaphoideus titanus leafhoppers rely on vibrations in sexual communication.•Stages of mating behaviour are guided by male perception of vibrational cues.•Even small insects can extract information about location from vibrational signals.•Signalling is optimized to achieve either accuracy or speed, depending on context.
The ability to identify and locate conspecifics depends on reliable transfer of information between emitter and receiver. For a majority of plant-dwelling insects communicating with substrate-borne vibrations, localization of a potential partner may be a difficult task due to their small body size and complex transmission properties of plants. In the present study, we used the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus as a model to investigate duetting and mate searching associated with pair formation. Studying these insects on a natural substrate, we showed that the spatio-temporal structure of a vibrational duet and the perceived intensity of partner's signals influence the mating behaviour. Identification, localization and courtship stages were each characterized by a specific duet structure. In particular, the duet structure differed in synchronization between male and female pulses, which enables identification of the partner, while the switch between behavioural stages was associated with the male-perceived intensity of vibrational signals. This suggests that males obtain the information about their distance from the female and optimize their strategy accordingly. More broadly, our results show that even in insects smaller than 1cm, vibrational signals provide reliable information needed to find a mating partner.