Lecture 11- Communication 2

Question 1

Purposes of communication

Answer 1

Ownership/territory, Alarm, Mating

Question 2

Vibration Communication

Answer 2

Common in insects. Substrate vibration & far-field sound Substrate vibration & near field sound Water surface vibration Far-field sound Near field sound Underwater sound

Question 3

Firefly communication

Answer 3

Courtship signals must
attract only the correct
species

Question 4

Katydid Communication

Answer 4

Closely related species often have very different courtship signals

Question 5

Co-evolutionary “arms race” between bats and prey insects

Answer 5

A back-and-forth process of adaptation in one
species favoring counteradaptation in another,

Question 6

Hristov & Conner (2005): Acoustic aposematism in distasteful moths to avoid bat predation.

Answer 6

Distasteful moths that produced ultrasonic clicks
were captured less frequently than silent moths

Question 7

Vervet monkey alarm calls

Answer 7

The “snake” alarm call would cause the group to stand up and study the ground, while the “eagle” alarm call would see them dive into bushes or the middle of trees where an aerial predator could not reach them. The “leopard” alarm call would send individuals scuttling up to the very tops of the trees.

Question 8

Courter & Ritchison (2010): Predator-specific alarm calls in Titmice

Answer 8

More D notes were produced in
alarm calls during high-risk
predator treatments, More mobbing behavior
during high-risk treatments
with small raptors

Question 9

Bura et al. (2011): Startle responses in caterpillars

Answer 9

They conclude that caterpillar whistles are defensive and propose that they function specifically as acoustic ‘eye spots’ to startle predators

Question 10

Recruitment Trails in Ants and Termites

Answer 10

Pheromone methyl 4-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate.
Only 0.33 mg of this pheromone would draw a detectable trail around the world.

Question 11

Waggle Dance in Honey Bees