New research features in Journal of Experimental Biology

The results of a fascinating new study by researchers from the School of Life Sciences are published today (17th August 2017) in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

This Leverhulme-funded research, carried out by Dr Fernando Montealegre-Z, Dr Thorin Jonsson and Benedict Chivers, investigates a unique form of amplification in the sound generation system of a tropical bush cricket.

All bush crickets generate their acoustic mating calls through tegminal stridulation: the rubbing together of their specially modified forewings. A scraper (also known as the plectrum) is passed along a series of hardened teeth with the subsequent vibrations being amplified by specialised wing cells which act similarly to speaker membranes. However, the species in this study (the Neotropical bush cricket Acanthacara acuta) utilises an extraordinary bodily structure to further amplify its call through resonance.

The full story is featured on the School of Life Sciences blog, and the paper is available to read online.