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Comparative micromechanics of bushcricket ears with and without a specialized auditory fovea region in the crista acustica
- Source :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- In some insects and vertebrate species, the specific enlargement of sensory cell epithelium facilitates the perception of particular behaviourally relevant signals. The insect auditory fovea in the ear of the bushcricket Ancylecha fenestrata (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) is an example of such an expansion of sensory epithelium. Bushcricket ears developed in convergent evolution anatomical and functional similarities to mammal ears, such as travelling waves and auditory foveae, to process information by sound. As in vertebrate ears, sound induces a motion of this insect hearing organ (crista acustica), which can be characterized by its amplitude and phase response. However, detailed micromechanics in this bushcricket ear with an auditory fovea are yet unknown. Here, we fill this gap in knowledge for bushcricket, by analysing and comparing the ear micromechanics in Ancylecha fenestrata and a bushcricket species without auditory fovea (Mecopoda elongata, Tettigoniidae: Mecopodinae) using laser-Doppler vibrometry. We found that the increased size of the crista acustica, expanded by a foveal region in A. fenestrata, leads to higher mechanical amplitudes and longer phase delays in A. fenestrata male ears. Furthermore, area under curve analyses of the organ oscillations reveal that more sensory units are activated by the same stimuli in the males of the auditory fovea-possessing species A. fenestrata. The measured increase of phase delay in the region of the auditory fovea supports the conclusion that tilting of the transduction site is important for the effective opening of the involved transduction channels. Our detailed analysis of sound-induced micromechanics in this bushcricket ear demonstrates that an increase of sensory epithelium with foveal characteristics can enhance signal detection and may also improve the neuronal encoding. Introduction. - Material and methods (animals and preparation, micro-computed tomography, laser-doppler vibrometry and sound stimulation, data analysis and statistics). - Results. - Discussion
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
genetic structures
media_common.quotation_subject
Tettigoniidae
Sensory system
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Gryllidae
03 medical and health sciences
Hearing
Foveal
Perception
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
Animals
030304 developmental biology
General Environmental Science
media_common
0303 health sciences
Morphology and Biomechanics
travelling wave
General Immunology and Microbiology
biology
Ear
auditory fovea
General Medicine
Anatomy
biology.organism_classification
Crista
Sound
Fenestrata
sexual dimorphism
insect
sense organs
Phaneropterinae
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Transduction (physiology)
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2f9b240c2444f7e914c5d18ff7893125