A mosquito-inspired theoretical framework for acoustic signal detection

Distortion products are tones produced through nonlinear effects of a system simultaneously detecting two or more frequencies. These combination tones are ubiquitous to vertebrate auditory systems and are generally regarded as byproducts of nonlinear signal amplification. It has previously been shown that several species of infectious-disease-carrying mosquitoes utilize these distortion products for detecting and locating potential mates. Furthermore, the mechanical tuning curve of the male mosquito flagellum was shown not to be aligned with that of its sensory neural elements. Using a generic theoretical model for acoustic sensing, we evaluate the signal-detection advantages and disadvantages that are implied by these two schemes: distortion product detection and cascading a signal through multiple layers of oscillator elements of different characteristic frequency. Last, we show that the combination of these two schemes yields a signal detector with enhanced frequency selectivity and speed of response, thus enabling the detection of transient, narrowband flight tones.