Big brown bats and June beetles: Multiple pursuit strategies in a seasonal acoustic predator–prey system

Simmons, James A.

doi:10.1121/1.1985957

Cited by 41 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Previous work showed that high-frequency firing of AN2, which occurs at the onset of an ultrasound stimulus, is required for behavioral responses (Nolen and Hoy, 1984). However, bat-insect encounters may last for several seconds, during which the insect is exposed to continuous, dynamic, stimulation with ultrasound (Simmons, 2005); thus, the need for AN2 to detect behaviorally relevant features of ultrasound stimuli and trigger avoidance responses persists at least for several seconds after the onset of a dynamic stimulus. The response of AN2 to long-lasting stimuli includes both isolated action potentials and bursts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Behavioral Role for Feature Detection by Sensory Bursts

Marsat¹,

Pollack²

2006

J. Neurosci.

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Brief episodes of high-frequency firing of sensory neurons, or bursts, occur in many systems, including mammalian auditory and visual systems, and are believed to signal the occurrence of particularly important stimulus features, i.e., to function as feature detectors. However, the behavioral relevance of sensory bursts has not been established in any system. Here, we show that bursts in an identified auditory interneuron of crickets reliably signal salient stimulus features and reliably predict behavioral responses. Our results thus demonstrate the close link between sensory bursts and behavior.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Behavioral Role for Feature Detection by Sensory Bursts

Marsat¹,

Pollack²

2006

J. Neurosci.

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“…1A Inset) (3,4). These bats change the interpulse intervals (IPIs), the initial high frequencies and terminating low frequencies of FM sweeps, the duration, and the amplitude of broadcasts according to surrounding conditions such as the distance to nearby objects (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Each sonar broadcast impinges on objects at different distances to form a stream of echoes returning at different delays.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Clutter interference is exacerbated by broadcast-echo ambiguity, creating a worst-case situation-self-generated clutter resulting from the use of too-short IPIs. The obvious effectiveness of echolocation in clutter (5,6,12,13) makes it desirable to learn how bats achieve this performance. When flying in dense clutter, big brown bats emit nearly all their sonar sounds in pairs, called "strobe groups," with shorter IPIs between members of the pairs set off by longer IPIs between one strobe group and the next (3,8,12,13).…”

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confidence: 99%

FM echolocating bats shift frequencies to avoid broadcast–echo ambiguity in clutter

Hiryu

Bates²,

Simmons

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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100

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Sonar broadcasts are followed by echoes at different delays from objects at different distances. When broadcasts are emitted rapidly in cluttered surroundings, echo streams from successive broadcasts overlap and cause ambiguity in matching echoes to corresponding broadcasts. To identify reactions to ambiguity in clutter, echolocating bats that emit multiple-harmonic FM sounds were trained to fly into a dense, extended array of obstacles (multiple rows of vertically hanging chains) while the sonar sounds the bat emitted were recorded with a miniature radio microphone carried by the bat. Flight paths were reconstructed from thermal-infrared video recordings. Successive rows of chains extended more than 6 m in depth, so each broadcast was followed by a series of echoes from multiple rows of chains that lasted up to 40 ms. Bats emitted sounds in pairs ("strobe groups") at short (20-40 ms) interpulse intervals (IPIs) alternating with longer IPIs (>50 ms). For many short IPIs, the stream of echoes from the first broadcast was still arriving when the second broadcast was emitted. This overlap caused ambiguity about matching echoes with broadcasts. Bats shifted frequencies of the first sound in each strobe group upward and the second sound downward by 3-6 kHz. When overlap and ambiguity ceased, frequency shifts ceased also. Frequency differences were small compared with the total broadcast band, which was 75-80 kHz wide, but the harmonic structure of echoes enhances the differences in spectrograms. Bats could use time-frequency comparisons of echoes with broadcasts to assign echoes to the corresponding broadcasts and thus avoid ambiguity.bat sonar | clutter interference | echo delay | FM sounds

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“…It is important to distinguish between the completions of aerial interceptions of flying insects close to background objects from the capture of prey that rest or swarm on leaves or the ground ͑Schnitzler et al, 2003;see video clips in Simmons et al, 2001 andSimmons, 2005͒. In laboratory tests, free-flying insectivorous bats ͑five species of Myotis͒ were able to capture insects presented at varying distances ͑5-50 cm͒ from a clutter screen that was designed to mimic the edge of vegetation ͑Siemers and Schnitzler, 2004͒.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some kinds of insects taken as prey by big brown bats, such as crickets or katydids, are not commonly observed to fly at night and presumably must be taken from substrates such as the ground or vegetation ͑Fullard et al, 2005;Kurta and Baker, 1990͒. Beetles swarming in vegetation make buzzing sounds that are audible to bats ͑Hamr and Bailey, 1985͒, and crickets and katydids communicate with each other acoustically, in both cases providing bats with potential cues for passive hearing to detect and localize prey. However, when gleaning prey from clutter or substrates, the bat's actual approach and certain details of capture must be guided by some contribution from echolocation, if only to avoid collisions with vegetation or the substrate itself, and under these conditions the bats continue to emit echolocation sounds ͑Fullard et al., 2005;Ratcliffe et al, 2005;Schmidt, et al, 2000͒. The presence of targets on surfaces or in vegetation creates a complex acoustic scene with echoes from the target and from the clutter competing to be perceived ͑Moss and Surlykke, 2001;Ratcliffe and Dawson, 2003͒.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of targets colocalized in clutter by big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

Stamper

Simmons

DeLong

et al. 2008

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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Echolocating big brown bats ͑Eptesicus fuscus͒ frequently catch insects during aerial pursuits in open spaces, but they also capture prey swarming on vegetation, and from substrates. To evaluate perception of targets on cluttered surfaces, big brown bats were trained in a two-alternative forced-choice task to locate a target, varying in height, that was embedded partway in holes ͑clutter͒ cut in a foam surface. The holes were colocalized with the possible positions of the target at distances ranging from 25 to 35 cm. For successful perception of the target, the bat had to detect the echoes contributed by the target in the same time window that contained echoes from the clutter. Performance was assessed in terms of target reflective strength relative to clutter strength in the same time window. The bats detected the target whenever the target strength was greater than 1 -2 dB above the clutter.

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Big brown bats and June beetles: Multiple pursuit strategies in a seasonal acoustic predator–prey system

Cited by 41 publications

References 16 publications

A Behavioral Role for Feature Detection by Sensory Bursts

A Behavioral Role for Feature Detection by Sensory Bursts

FM echolocating bats shift frequencies to avoid broadcast–echo ambiguity in clutter

Detection of targets colocalized in clutter by big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

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