High background noise shapes selective auditory filters in a tropical cricket

Because of call frequency overlap and masking interference, the airborne sound channel represents a limited resource for communication in a species-rich cricket community like the tropical rainforest. Here we studied the frequency tuning of an auditory neuron mediating phonotaxis in the rainforest cricket Paroecanthus podagrosus, suffering from strong competition, in comparison with the same homologous neuron in two species of European field crickets, where such competition does not exist. As predicted, the rainforest species exhibited a more selective tuning compared with the European counterparts. The filter reduced background nocturnal noise levels by 26 dB, compared with only 16 and 10 dB in the two European species. We also quantified the performance of the sensory filter under the different filter regimes by examining the representation of the species-specific amplitude modulation of the male calling song, when embedded in background noise. Again, the filter of the rainforest cricket performed significantly better in terms of representing this important signal parameter. The neuronal representation of the calling song pattern within receivers was maintained for a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios because of the more sharply tuned sensory system and selective attention mechanisms. Finally, the rainforest cricket also showed an almost perfect match between the filter for sensitivity and the peripheral filter for directional hearing, in contrast to its European counterparts. We discuss the consequences of these adaptations for intraspecific acoustic communication and reproductive isolation between species.