Monday 19 February 2018

'Evolution in real time': silent crickets still singing for a mate


Scientists are fascinated that Hawaiian crickets still perform their vigorous mating call, despite having evolved to lose their song to avoid a deadly new parasite

Wed 14 Feb 2018 06.01 GMT

Male field crickets traditionally attract a mate by “singing” – creating a sound by rhythmically scraping their wings back and forth.

In Hawaii, however, their song attracts a less welcome female: parasitic flies, whose larvae devour and kill the crickets from the inside out.

To survive, some smart field crickets have rapidly evolved to remove the sound-producing structures on their wings, meaning their vigorous “song” no longer endangers them, as it is completely silent.

These mutations were first identified on the island of Kauai and by photographing and recording these insects under lab conditions, scientists have now discovered that the singing continues, even though it appears to be an intensive use of energy for no purpose.

Writing in the journal Biology Letters, researchers from the University of St Andrews and the University of Cambridge reveal how they photographed and recorded the crickets under laboratory conditions to document this silent song.



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