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Range of corixid sound signals in the biotope
Author(s) -
THEISS JOACHIM,
PRAGER JOACHIM
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1984.tb00686.x
Subject(s) - attenuation , sound (geography) , acoustic attenuation , overcast , shore , infrasound , range (aeronautics) , sound pressure , acoustics , biology , atmospheric sciences , physics , sky , astrophysics , materials science , optics , fishery , composite material
. The propagation of sound in the frequency band (2–12 kHz) used by the Corixidae was measured in two shallow natural ponds. At distances of more than 1 m from the shore the water was at least O.4 m deep. The first pond was eutrophic and contained no plants. The spread of sound into the open water obeyed approximately the geometric attenuation of the sound pressure level (SPL); a loss of 6dB for each doubling of the distance from the point sound source. Near the shore the attenuation was considerably greater, especially for low frequencies; for a 2 kHz signal the damping of the SPL was c. 40–50 dB/m. The second pond had dense plant growth, and the sound attenuation depended strongly on the photosynthetic activity of the waterplants. Measurements in winter, with an overcast sky, revealed only a slight damping effect of the plants for a 10kHz test signal. During intense sunlight in summer, however, in addition to the geometric attenuation the damping effect of the plants over a distance of O.5 m was 50 dB for a 2 kHz signal and 80 dB for 10 kHz. This effect was due to gas bubbles produced during intense photosynthesis. Song A of Corixa dentipes Thms. (Heteroptera) males elicits usually a response by male conspecifics. The threshold SPL for this response was measured to be c. 40 dB lower than the SPL at a distance of O.1 m from a stridulating animal. From the measurements of sound propagation it follows, therefore, that the effective range of Song A in the most favourable case is at least 10m, though in a pond overgrown with plants it can be less than O.4 m.