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Use of a self-made sound baffle by a tree cricket

Abstract

FIELD observations and sound recordings of several South African species of Oecanthidae were carried out during the summer and autumn of 1973–74 to augment studies of the acoustic behaviour of the tree cricket performed abroad1–6. We report that Oecanthus burmeisteri uses a leaf as a sound baffle to increase the intensity of its calling song by pressing its tegmina against the edges of a pear-shaped hole gnawed into the leaf.. At least two more South African chirping Oecanthus species use a leaf baffle just as efficiently as O. burmeisteri.

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PROZESKY-SCHULZE, L., PROZESKY, O., ANDERSON, F. et al. Use of a self-made sound baffle by a tree cricket. Nature 255, 142–143 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/255142a0

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