Search behaviour and mate choice by female field crickets, Gryllus integer

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Animal Communication
• Neuroethology

Background:

• Mate searching in females involves cognitive demands and memory recall.
• Theoretical models suggest females can remember and return to previously sampled males.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate female field cricket (Gryllus integer) mate search tactics.
• To determine if females construct spatial representations of concurrently advertising males.
• To assess memory recall of male calls under different presentation conditions.

Main Methods:

• Female Gryllus integer were exposed to male calls sequentially or simultaneously in a three-arm radial maze.
• Behavioral responses, including return to call locations and search patterns, were recorded in the absence of audible signals.

Main Results:

• Females exposed to sequential calls returned to the initial call location.
• Females exposed to simultaneous calls were equally likely to move to a never-active speaker as to a previously heard call location.
• Simultaneous call exposure led to increased searching in all maze arms and longer search times.

Conclusions:

• Female Gryllus integer likely do not create spatial representations of concurrently advertising males.
• Under certain conditions, female Gryllus integer can recall previously encountered males.
• Mate-searching tactics may be more complex than simple instantaneous comparisons of calling males.