Searching by visual and acoustic cues among bushcrickets (Orthoptera : Tettigoniidae): will females remain faithful to a male who stops calling?

摘要

Female nocturnal bushcrickets (Requena verticalis: Listroscelidinae: Tettigoniidae: Orthoptera) orientate towards and approach a conspecific male by tracking the direction of its call. If a male stops calling during this approach, the female may remain faithful and continue on the same track or change direction and pursue another calling male. Factors that might influence this decision were examined experimentally. When presented with a male call in conjunction with a visual cue, females maintained orientation towards the visual cue following cessation of the call. Furthermore, when a visual cue was presented with an acoustic cue, females were more likely to be faithful, regardless of call intensity.