Newswise — New research reveals that male crickets engage in a synchronized chorus to attract females, but interestingly, they halt their singing when a rival approaches too closely. A team of scientists from the University of Exeter observed over 100 male field crickets, monitoring their singing behavior, or "singing overlap."
When male crickets were positioned at a distance of one to five meters from another male, their singing had a stimulating effect, leading to a harmonious chorus of crickets singing together. However, the presence of another cricket within one meter had a different impact, as these territorial insects seemed to opt for confrontation with the intruder rather than singing.
Joe Wilde, a PhD student at Exeter's Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, remarked that while courtship displays are widespread in nature, there is still much to learn about how animals adapt these behaviors based on their surroundings. For male crickets, singing is a demanding activity that requires considerable energy, forcing them to strategically decide when to chirp and when to remain silent.
"Our findings demonstrate that the presence of other singing males significantly influences the decision-making process," stated Wilde. He continued, "While we can't definitively determine the reason behind males singing together, a plausible explanation is that females are more attracted to areas with multiple males calling simultaneously. By forming a 'chorus,' all the males benefit from increased visibility."
He further explained, "As for the reduction in singing when other males chirp within one meter, it is likely that the crickets opt to confront rivals that encroach too close to their burrows."
To conduct their research, the team utilized data from the WildCrickets project, which involved continuous monitoring of field crickets (Gryllus campestris) in a meadow in northern Spain using CCTV cameras. The study extensively analyzed over a million scan samples from 129 males over 51 days to investigate the impact of male singing behavior concerning the presence and proximity of other males.
The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
The paper, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, is entitled: “Signalling males increase or decrease their calling effort according to the proximity of rivals in a wild cricket.”
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