Hearing: Cricket pitch

The fly Ormia ochracae locates its host the field cricket, usually at night, by homing in on the male cricket's characteristic call with the aid of a remarkable pair of ears. Though the ears are tiny and only half a millimetre apart, behavioural experiments reported this week show that the fly can locate a sound source with accuracy equal to that of the normal human ear. Analysis of the neural coding involved reveals a refined time coding system with similarities to other hyperacute systems in owls and electric fish. Conventional hearing aids have little or no directional sensitivity, hence the interest in O. ochracae-inspired directional microphones as possible components in hearing aids.

letters to nature
Hyperacute directional hearing in a microscale auditory system
ANDREW C. MASON, MICHAEL L. OSHINSKY & RON R. HOY
Nature 410, 686-690 (5 April 2001)
| First Paragraph | Full Text | PDF (255 K) |

news and views
Acoustics: In a fly's ear
PETER M. NARINS
Organisms often identify the source of a sound by comparing the noises that arrive at the two ears. Using some interesting tricks, a minute fly has mastered this feat as accurately as humans.
Nature 410, 644-645 (5 April 2001)
| Full Text | PDF (316 K) |

5 April 2001 table of contents