Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Pages: 1-6

Journal: Journal of Insect Science

Volume number: 18

Issue number: 3

ISSN: 1536-2442

Open access status: Gold

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iey029

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: 
Detection of substrate vibrations is an evolutionarily old sensory modality and is important for predator detection as well as for intraspecific communication. In insects, substrate vibrations are detected mainly by scolopidial (chordotonal) sense organs found at different sites in the legs. Among these sense organs, the tibial subgenual organ (SGO) is one of the most sensitive sensors. The neuroanatomy and physiology of vibratory sense organs of cicadas is not well known. Here, we investigated the leg nerve by neuronal tracing and summed nerve recordings. Tracing with Neurobiotin revealed that the cicada Okanagana rimosa (Say) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) has a femoral chordotonal organ with about 20 sensory cells and a tibial SGO with two sensory cells. Recordings from the leg nerve show that the vibrational response is broadly tuned with a threshold of about 1 m/s(2) and a minimum latency of about 6 ms. The vibratory sense of cicadas might be used in predator avoidance and intraspecific communication, although no tuning to the peak frequency of the calling song (9 kHz) could be found.

Harvard Citation style: Alt, J. and Lakes-Harlan, R. (2018) Sensing of Substrate Vibrations in the Adult Cicada Okanagana rimosa (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), Journal of Insect Science, 18(3), pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iey029

APA Citation style: Alt, J., & Lakes-Harlan, R. (2018). Sensing of Substrate Vibrations in the Adult Cicada Okanagana rimosa (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). Journal of Insect Science. 18(3), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iey029