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Cicada Acoustic Communication

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Insect Hearing and Acoustic Communication

Part of the book series: Animal Signals and Communication ((ANISIGCOM,volume 1))

Abstract

Cicadas are iconic insects that use conspicuously loud and often complexly structured stereotyped sound signals for mate attraction. Focusing on acoustic communication, we review the current data to address two major questions: How do males generate specific and intense acoustic signals and how is phonotactic orientation achieved? We first explain the structure of the sound producing apparatus, how the sound is produced and modulated and how the song pattern is generated. We then describe the organisation and the sensitivity of the auditory system. We will highlight the capabilities of the hearing system in frequency and time domains, and deal with the directionality of hearing, which provides the basis for phonotactic orientation. Finally, we focus on behavioural studies and what they have taught us about signal recognition.

This work is dedicated to Franz Huber and Axel Michelsen for teaching me so much….

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Acknowledgments

I thank Berthold Hedwig, John Cooley, Sofia Seabra, Maria Clara Amorim and Axel Michelsen for their comments that improved the manuscript, and José Feijó for the confocal microscope images.

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  1. Department of Biologia Animal and Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    Paulo J. Fonseca

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Correspondence to Paulo J. Fonseca .

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Berthold Hedwig

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Fonseca, P.J. (2014). Cicada Acoustic Communication. In: Hedwig, B. (eds) Insect Hearing and Acoustic Communication. Animal Signals and Communication, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40462-7_7

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