The Effects of Conspecific Songs on the Aggression and Phonotaxic Behavior of House Crickets (Acheta Domesticus)

Abstract

Mating in crickets has continued to be an especial topic because of the interesting phenomena of female mate preferences and male-male aggression. Most crickets produce three distinct song types, with each one produced under a different social circumstances. A clear understanding of the responses of crickets to different song types will help clarify the function of multiple song types. We carried out two experiments with related tests: the effect of the calling song, the courtship song, and the aggression song, on male-male aggression and on male and female phonotaxis. In the aggression experiment, we played back a single song during male-male contest, and the results showed low values of aggression intensity in the presence of calling and aggression songs. Playback songs significantly affected the duration of a fighting contest and the aggressive encounters were resolved at low intensity compared to muted treatment. In the phonotactic experiment, we played a single song and female crickets showed non-significant tendency to respond less to the courtship song compared to the aggression and calling songs. Overall, the results show no significant phonotactic preference for both male and female crickets.