Hawkmoths produce anti-bat ultrasound

@article{Barber2013HawkmothsPA,
  title={Hawkmoths produce anti-bat ultrasound},
  author={Jesse R. Barber and Akito Y. Kawahara},
  journal={Biology Letters},
  year={2013},
  volume={9}
}
Bats and moths have been engaged in aerial warfare for nearly 65 Myr. [] Key Result Preliminary data indicate that females also produce ultrasound to touch and playback of echolocation attack, but they do so with an entirely different mechanism. The anti-bat function of these sounds is unknown but might include startling, cross-family acoustic mimicry, warning of unprofitability or physical defence and/or jamming of echolocation. Hawkmoths present a novel and tractable system to study both the function and…
View on Royal Society
royalsocietypublishing.org
34 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
12
Methods Citations
1

Figures from this paper

34 Citations

Anti-Bat Ultrasound Production in Moths is Globally and Phylogenetically Widespread
TLDR
A long-term study across the globe, assaying moth response to playback of bat echolocation, finds preliminary evidence of independent origins of sonar jamming in at least six subfamilies, and suggests that jamming and warning are not mutually exclusive strategies.
Convergent Evolution of Wingbeat-Powered Anti-Bat Ultrasound in the Microlepidoptera
TLDR
It is demonstrated that wingbeat-powered ultrasound production, likely providing an anti-bat function, appears to indeed be spread widely in the microlepidoptera; showing that acoustically active structures (aeroelastic tymbals, ATs) have evolved in at least three, and likely four different regions of the wing.
Deaf moths employ acoustic Müllerian mimicry against bats using wingbeat-powered tymbals
TLDR
It is revealed how Yponomeuta moths acquire sophisticated acoustic protection despite being deaf themselves and hence unable to respond to bat attacks, and is concluded that both moth taxa are mutual Müllerian acoustic mimics.
Convergent evolution of anti-bat sounds
TLDR
A previously unknown sound-producing organ in Geometrid moths is described—a prothoracic tymbal in the orange beggar moth (Eubaphe unicolor) that generates bursts of ultrasonic clicks in response to tactile stimulation and playback of a bat echolocation attack sequence.
The evolution of anti-bat sensory illusions in moths
TLDR
It is postulate that sensory illusions are widespread and are underappreciated drivers of diversity across systems.
Early erratic flight response of the lucerne moth to the quiet echolocation calls of distant bats
TLDR
The crambid moth Nomophila nearctica never performed passive dives in response to frequent and loud ultrasonic pulses of >60 dB sound pressure level (SPL) that simulated the attacking echolocation call sequence of the predominant sympatric insectivorous bat Eptesicus fuscus, but rather turned away or flew erratically, regardless of the temporal structure of the stimulus.
Tempo and mode of antibat ultrasound production and sonar jamming in the diverse hawkmoth radiation
TLDR
This work provides the first evidence that multiple unrelated hawkmoth species produce ultrasound and jam bat echolocation, and predicts that ultrasound production is a widespread antibat strategy in the extraordinary diversity of nocturnal insects.
Evolutionary escalation: the bat–moth arms race
TLDR
The evolutionary history of bats and eared insects, focusing on the insect order Lepidoptera, is reviewed, and the evidence for antipredator adaptations and predator counter-adaptations are considered.
Sensing in a noisy world: lessons from auditory specialists, echolocating bats
TLDR
Researchers use echolocating bats – with their adaptations for sound production and reception – as models for understanding how animals sense and communicate in noisy environments.
What does an insect hear? Reassessing the role of hearing in predator avoidance with insights from vertebrate prey.
TLDR
Research on the role of insect hearing in predator avoidance has been disproportionally focused on bat-detection, and that acoustically-mediated responses to other predators may have been overlooked because the responses of prey may be subtle (e.g. ceasing activity, increasing vigilance).
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 33 REFERENCES
Tiger Moth Jams Bat Sonar
TLDR
Using ultrasonic recording and high-speed infrared videography of bat-moth interactions, it is shown that the palatable tiger moth Bertholdia trigona defends against attacking big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) using ultrasonic clicks that jam bat sonar.
Sound strategy: acoustic aposematism in the bat–tiger moth arms race
TLDR
It is found that the bats only respond to the sounds of arctiids when they are paired with defensive chemistry, and the sounds are in essence a warning to the bats that the moth is unpalatable—an aposematic signal.
Acoustic mimicry in a predator–prey interaction
TLDR
Visualizing bat–moth interactions with high-speed, infrared videography, empirical evidence for acoustic mimicry in the ultrasonic warning sounds that tiger moths produce in response to echolocating bats is provided.
Tiger moth responses to a simulated bat attack: timing and duty cycle
TLDR
No relationship exists between the duty cycle of a tiger moth's call (and thus the call's probability of jamming the bat) and its temporal response to bat attack, calling into doubt the assumptions behind the jamming hypothesis.
How Some Insects Detect and Avoid Being Eaten by Bats: Tactics and Countertactics of Prey and Predator
TLDR
The aim with this review is to present the complex interactions between echolocating bats and insects with bat-detecting ears and show how these interactions may be advantageous for predator or prey.
Behavioral response to ultrasound by the tiger beetle Cicindela marutha dow combines aerodynamic changes and sound production.
TLDR
Physiological audiograms from the auditory afferents show substantially greater sensitivity and sharper tuning than the behavioral response, which suggests that tiger beetles may use their hearing in other contexts as well as during flight.
The sensory basis of prey detection by the long-eared bat, Myotis evotis, and the consequences for prey selection
Hearing with the mouthparts: behavioural responses and the structural basis of ultrasound perception in acherontiine hawkmoths
TLDR
Structural differences suggest a convergent evolution of hearing in hawkmoths: in the place of the swollen palps of Choerocampina, acherontiine species capable of hearing possess a scale-plate of the palps that interacts with an articulating pilifer, while this modification is absent in closely related non-hearing species.
Echolocation by Insect-Eating Bats
TLDR
This article describes the echolocation behavior of insect-eating bats and shows how differing circumstances such as habitat type, foraging mode, and diet favor different signal types, and outlines the perceptual tasks that must be performed by foraging bats.
Acoustic and behavioural analyses of the sounds produced by some species of Nearctic Arctiidae (Lepidoptera)
TLDR
The acoustic parameters of the arctiids surveyed revealed extremely high levels of variability in the sounds and these were predominantly ultrasonic and relatively faint compared with other insect sounds.
...
...