Species-specific sound production in three ephippigerine bushcrickets

Songs of three Ephippigerine species (Ephippiger ephippiger, E. discoidalis and E.perforatus) have been recorded and analysed. Manipulation experiments have been carried out by removing single teeth from the pars stridens. The songs of manipulated animals show characteristic gaps within the impulse structure of the opening and closing syllables. Morphological measurements were carried out by means of SEM-photographs of the pars stridens. Combining both the bioacoustic and morphological results reveals that only the lateral part of the pars stridens is used during stridulation. Furthermore it could be shown that the individual impulse interval pattern within one syllable is also highly constant between syllables. The impulse interval pattern correlates with the pattern of tooth spacing on the pars stridens.