Moths produce extremely quiet ultrasonic courtship songs by rubbing specialized scales
Moths produce extremely quiet ultrasonic courtship songs by rubbing specialized scales
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0804056105
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发表时间：
2008-08-19
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Ishikawa, Yukio
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Nakano, Ryo;Skals, Niels;Ishikawa, Yukio
昆虫已经进化出了显著多样的机制，以产生响亮的引人注目的声音来进行有效的交流。然而，被竞争对手和掠夺者窃听的风险很高。在这里，我们描述了一种机制，用于产生极低强度的超声波歌曲（46分贝声压级在1厘米），适用于私人的性通信在亚洲玉米螟蛾，Ostrinia pesticalis。在求偶期间，雄性会用翅膀上的特殊鳞片摩擦胸部的鳞片来发出歌声，鳞片下面的翅膜可能起着共鸣器的作用。雄性的歌声抑制了雌性的逃跑行为，从而增加了他的交配成功率。我们对极低强度超声波通信的发现可能指向一个使用“安静”超声波的私人通信的整个未被发现的世界。
insects have evolved a marked diversity of mechanisms to produce loud conspicuous sounds for efficient communication. However, the risk of eavesdropping by competitors and predators is high. Here, we describe a mechanism for producing extremely low-intensity ultrasonic songs (46 dB sound pressure level at 1 cm) adapted for private sexual communication in the Asian corn borer moth, Ostrinia furnacalis. During courtship, the male rubs specialized scales on the wing against those on the thorax to produce the songs, with the wing membrane underlying the scales possibly acting as a sound resonator. The male's song suppresses the escape behavior of the female, thereby increasing his mating success. Our discovery of extremely low-intensity ultrasonic communication may point to a whole undiscovered world of private communication, using "quiet" ultrasound.