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Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid

BACKGROUND: In aggressive mimicry, a predator or parasite imitates a signal of another species in order to exploit the recipient of the signal. Some of the most remarkable examples of aggressive mimicry involve exploitation of a complex signal-response system by an unrelated predator species. METHOD...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Marshall, David C., Hill, Kathy B. R.
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2615208/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19142230
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004185
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author Marshall, David C.
Hill, Kathy B. R.
author_facet Marshall, David C.
Hill, Kathy B. R.
author_sort Marshall, David C.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In aggressive mimicry, a predator or parasite imitates a signal of another species in order to exploit the recipient of the signal. Some of the most remarkable examples of aggressive mimicry involve exploitation of a complex signal-response system by an unrelated predator species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have found that predatory Chlorobalius leucoviridis katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) can attract male cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) by imitating the species-specific wing-flick replies of sexually receptive female cicadas. This aggressive mimicry is accomplished both acoustically, with tegminal clicks, and visually, with synchronized body jerks. Remarkably, the katydids respond effectively to a variety of complex, species-specific Cicadettini songs, including songs of many cicada species that the predator has never encountered. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We propose that the versatility of aggressive mimicry in C. leucoviridis is accomplished by exploiting general design elements common to the songs of many acoustically signaling insects that use duets in pair-formation. Consideration of the mechanism of versatile mimicry in C. leucoviridis may illuminate processes driving the evolution of insect acoustic signals, which play a central role in reproductive isolation of populations and the formation of species.
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spelling pubmed-26152082009-01-14 Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid Marshall, David C. Hill, Kathy B. R. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: In aggressive mimicry, a predator or parasite imitates a signal of another species in order to exploit the recipient of the signal. Some of the most remarkable examples of aggressive mimicry involve exploitation of a complex signal-response system by an unrelated predator species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have found that predatory Chlorobalius leucoviridis katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) can attract male cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) by imitating the species-specific wing-flick replies of sexually receptive female cicadas. This aggressive mimicry is accomplished both acoustically, with tegminal clicks, and visually, with synchronized body jerks. Remarkably, the katydids respond effectively to a variety of complex, species-specific Cicadettini songs, including songs of many cicada species that the predator has never encountered. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We propose that the versatility of aggressive mimicry in C. leucoviridis is accomplished by exploiting general design elements common to the songs of many acoustically signaling insects that use duets in pair-formation. Consideration of the mechanism of versatile mimicry in C. leucoviridis may illuminate processes driving the evolution of insect acoustic signals, which play a central role in reproductive isolation of populations and the formation of species. Public Library of Science 2009-01-14 /pmc/articles/PMC2615208/ /pubmed/19142230 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004185 Text en Marshall et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Marshall, David C.
Hill, Kathy B. R.
Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid
title Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid
title_full Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid
title_fullStr Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid
title_full_unstemmed Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid
title_short Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid
title_sort versatile aggressive mimicry of cicadas by an australian predatory katydid
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2615208/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19142230
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004185
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