ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FOR THE EVOLUTION OF LONG-RANGE SIGNALING AND HEARING IN ACOUSTIC INSECTS

A number of insects use sound signals for the attraction of mates and in aggressive interactions between males. I discuss two constraints wh ich may have shaped both the design of long-range signals, and the str ucture and physiology of the ear and nervous system of the receiver. P roperties of the transmission channel for sound will impose limitation s on long-range transfer of information, which may be compensated for by adapting either the signal or the behaviour of the sender or receiv er. I describe properties of the nervous system which force the sender to produce more conspicuous signals. I suggest that the evolutionary past may represent a constraint on the communication system, where con servative features of the sensory and nervous system would now appear to be maladaptive for intraspecific communication.