Evolution of synchronies in insect choruses

Greenfield, Michael D.; Marin-Cudraz, Thibaut; Party, Virginie

doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blx096

Cited by 28 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…How and why individuals coordinate their movements and other behaviors, such as courtship, is a growing field of research. One particularly interesting and active area of research is the synchrony of mate attraction signals (Greenfield et al. 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review

Backwell

2018

Current Zoology

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Many animals that use acoustic communication synchronize their mate attraction signals: individuals precisely time their calls to overlap those of their neighbors. In contrast, synchrony in the mate attraction displays of species with visual/motion-based signals is rare. It has only been documented in five species of fiddler crabs. In all of them, small groups of males wave their single large claw in close synchrony. Here, I review what we know about synchrony in fiddler crabs, comparing the five species with each other to determine whether similar mechanisms and functions are common to all. I also propose future research questions that, if answered, would shed light on synchronous behavior in both visual and acoustic signallers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review

Backwell

2018

Current Zoology

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“…The model of M. elongata in Hartbauer (2008) simulates the chorus as a set of interacting coupled oscillators and reproduces the chorus synchrony. For chorusing insects generally, the tendency of male insects of a given species to attempt to either lead (Greenfield, 1994b) or simply reinforce the ambient calling sound may depend on the preferences of females (Greenfield, Marin‐Cudraz, & Party, 2017; Greenfield & Roizen, 1993) of the species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The acoustic landscape generated by M. cassini is markedly distinct from some of the prior studies in which mechanisms could be distinguished. Where it is possible to record acoustic signals coming from individuals or small groups of animals (e.g., Cystosoma saunders , Doolan & Nally, 1981; Sorapagus catalaunicus and Ephippiger diurnus , Greenfield et al, 2017), such recordings can be used to distinguish mechanisms. M. cassini , however, are so abundant and prone to movement, and their sound is so omnipresent during an emergence that recordings of individual cicadas participating in cyclic chorusing in a natural setting may be impractical.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐organizing cicada choruses respond to the local sound and light environment

Sheppard

Mechtley

Walter

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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1. Periodical cicadas exhibit an extraordinary capacity for self-organizing spatially synchronous breeding behavior. The regular emergence of periodical cicada broods across the United States is a phenomenon of longstanding public and scientific interest, as the cicadas of each brood emerge in huge numbers and briefly dominate their ecosystem. During the emergence, the 17-year periodical cicada species Magicicada cassini is found to form synchronized choruses, and we investigated their chorusing behavior from the standpoint of spatial synchrony.2. Cicada choruses were observed to form in trees, calling regularly every five seconds. In order to determine the limits of this self-organizing behavior, we set out to quantify the spatial synchronization between cicada call choruses in different trees, and how and why this varies in space and time.3. We performed 20 simultaneous recordings in Clinton State Park, Kansas, in June 2015 (Brood IV), with a team of citizen-science volunteers using consumer equipment (smartphones). We use a wavelet approach to show in detail how spatially synchronous, self-organized chorusing varies across the forest. 4. We show how conditions that increase the strength of audio interactions between cicadas also increase the spatial synchrony of their chorusing. Higher forest canopy light levels increase cicada activity, corresponding to faster and higheramplitude chorus cycling and to greater synchrony of cycles across space. We implemented a relaxation-oscillator-ensemble model of interacting cicadas, finding that a tendency to call more often, driven by light levels, results in all these effects. 5.Results demonstrate how the capacity to self-organize in ecology depends sensitively on environmental conditions. Spatially correlated modulation of cycling rate by an external driver can also promote self-organization of phase synchrony. K E Y W O R D Scicada, citizen science, insect chorus, synchrony, wavelet

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“…In courtship, signal synchronization also increases group visibility and the effectiveness of communicating species identity to conspecifics, which can lead to competition between groups (Greenfield et al. ). However, this strategy may not be entirely beneficial, given that at close range, synchrony can mask individual signals and disrupt individual mate quality assessments (Greenfield ).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Although many studies have been identifying key ecological factors promoting the emergence of synchrony (e.g., Greenfield et al. ), no study to date has yet traced the evolutionary history of animal synchrony in a broad array of species. To investigate how collective behaviors evolved, we must, therefore, select organisms that offer simplified behavioral ecologies (Sumpter ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Ecology and signal structure drive the evolution of synchronous displays*

et al. 2019

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Animal synchrony is found in phylogenetically distant animal groups, indicating behavioral adaptations to different selective pressures and in different signaling modalities. A notable example of synchronous display is found in fiddler crabs in that males wave their single enlarged claw during courtship. They present species‐specific signals, which are composed of distinctive movement signatures. Given that synchronous waving has been reported for several fiddler crab species, the display pattern could influence the ability of a given species to sufficiently adjust wave timing to allow for synchrony. In this study, we quantified the wave displays of fiddler crabs to predict their synchronous behavior. We combined this information with the group's phylogenetic relationships to trace the evolution of display synchrony in an animal taxon. We found no phylogenetic signal in interspecific variation in predicted wave synchrony, which mirrors the general nonphylogenetic pattern of synchrony across animal taxa. Interestingly, our analyses show that the phenomenon of synchronization stems from the peculiarities of display pattern, mating systems, and the complexity of microhabitats. This is the first study to combine mathematical simulations and phylogenetic comparative methods to reveal how ecological factors and the mechanics of animal signals affect the evolution of the synchronous phenomena.

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Evolution of synchronies in insect choruses

Cited by 28 publications

References 35 publications

Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review

Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review

Self‐organizing cicada choruses respond to the local sound and light environment

Ecology and signal structure drive the evolution of synchronous displays*

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