Environmental and biological constraints for the evolution of long-range signalling and hearing in acoustic insects

Abstract

A number of insects use sound signals for the attraction of mates and in aggressive interactions between males. I discuss two constraints which may have shaped both the design of long-range signals, and the structure and physiology of the ear and nervous system of the receiver. Properties of the transmission channel for sound will impose limitations on long-range transfer of information, which may be compensated for by adapting either the signal or the behaviour of the sender or receiver. I describe properties of the nervous system which force the sender to produce more conspicuous signals. I suggest that the evolutionary past may represent a constraint on the communication system, where conservative features of the sensory and nervous system would now appear to be maladaptive for intraspecific communication.