Event:

Successful acoustic communication requires sender (sound production) and receiver (sound perception) to be attuned. With more than 7000 species, bushcrickets are a highly diverse group with a remarkable variability in their acoustic behaviours that often show asymmetrical signalling between males and females. In our comparative studies we examined sound production and sound perception in different bushcricket species to investigate if sex-specific signalling differences are also reflected in the morphological structures and physiological responses of the hearing organs. Our anatomical, biomechanical and neurophysiological data revealed pronounced and behaviourally relevant differences in the sender and receiver structures in the two different species. Furthermore, we discovered a sex-specific auditory fovea in the ears of male Ancylecha fenestrata that is tuned to the dominant frequency of the female call. Population coding by similarly tuned afferent projections from the ears may provide hyperacute temporal signal information, which is currently under further investigation.