Physics of Sound Production in Crickets
The study of communication is best approached from a variety of different perspectives and methodologies. In this project, we used Finite Element Analysis, a method borrowed from engineering, to ask questions about acoustic tool use in crickets.
Specifically, we wanted to know why acoustic tool use isn't more common, since it is known to be advantageous to the few species that use it. Through our modeling efforts populated with real data from over 100 species of crickets, we learned that calling from the ground can be better than using an acoustic tool. This goes against decades of animal communication research. Further, we discovered that the benefits of calling from the ground should be available to all acoustically-communicating animals, not just crickets.
This work was done in the Mhatre Lab at Western University.
Link to paper: PNAS 2023
Link to press about paper: Western University
Specifically, we wanted to know why acoustic tool use isn't more common, since it is known to be advantageous to the few species that use it. Through our modeling efforts populated with real data from over 100 species of crickets, we learned that calling from the ground can be better than using an acoustic tool. This goes against decades of animal communication research. Further, we discovered that the benefits of calling from the ground should be available to all acoustically-communicating animals, not just crickets.
This work was done in the Mhatre Lab at Western University.
Link to paper: PNAS 2023
Link to press about paper: Western University
Thermal Physiology
Temperature is often linked to geographical species distributions. Despite the importance of a broad understanding of an animal’s thermal biology, few studies incorporate more than one metric of thermal biology. We examined an elevational assemblage of Habronattus jumping spiders to measure different aspects of their thermal biology including thermal limits (CTmin, CTmax), thermal preference, V̇CO2, locomotor behavior and warming tolerance. We used these data to test whether thermal biology explained how species were distributed across elevation.
Habronattus had high CTmax values, which did not differ among species across the elevational gradient. The highest-elevation species had a lower CTmin than any other species. However, no other metrics of thermal biology differed between species.
We suggest that Habronattus distributions follow Brett’s rule, which predicts more geographical variation in cold tolerance than heat. We also suggest that physiological tolerances interact with courtship and mate choice to influence species distributions. We suggest that overall, Habronattus are resilient in the face of climate-change related shifts in temperature. This work was done in collaboration with researchers in the Williams Lab at UC Berkeley.
Link to paper: Journal of Insect Physiology, 2020.
Links to press about paper: UC Berkeley Department of ESPM
Habronattus had high CTmax values, which did not differ among species across the elevational gradient. The highest-elevation species had a lower CTmin than any other species. However, no other metrics of thermal biology differed between species.
We suggest that Habronattus distributions follow Brett’s rule, which predicts more geographical variation in cold tolerance than heat. We also suggest that physiological tolerances interact with courtship and mate choice to influence species distributions. We suggest that overall, Habronattus are resilient in the face of climate-change related shifts in temperature. This work was done in collaboration with researchers in the Williams Lab at UC Berkeley.
Link to paper: Journal of Insect Physiology, 2020.
Links to press about paper: UC Berkeley Department of ESPM
Temperature and Sexual Communication
Temperature affects ectotherms like spiders in many ways. These effects can be especially complex in sexual behaviors, as different sexes may be affected differently by temperature. We examine this in the jumping spider, Habronattus clypeatus. In this species, males court females using visual and vibratory signals. We tested whether key intersexual behaviors would change with temperature in similar, predictable ways across males and females.
Male visual and vibratory courtship behaviors generally become faster, higher-pitched, and lower in amplitude at higher temperatures. Intriguingly, mating rates in the lab were highest at temperatures potentially above those during peak spider activity in the field. Our results suggest that temperature’s effects on behavior are complex and can affect males and females differently. This work emphasizes that understanding temperature effects on mating is critical to understanding sexual selection patterns particularly in species which use complex signals.This work was done in collaboration with researchers in the Elias Lab at UC Berkeley.
Work currently in progress is examining courtship in this species using a signal architecture approach.
Link to paper: Journal of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2018.
Male visual and vibratory courtship behaviors generally become faster, higher-pitched, and lower in amplitude at higher temperatures. Intriguingly, mating rates in the lab were highest at temperatures potentially above those during peak spider activity in the field. Our results suggest that temperature’s effects on behavior are complex and can affect males and females differently. This work emphasizes that understanding temperature effects on mating is critical to understanding sexual selection patterns particularly in species which use complex signals.This work was done in collaboration with researchers in the Elias Lab at UC Berkeley.
Work currently in progress is examining courtship in this species using a signal architecture approach.
Link to paper: Journal of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2018.
Socionatural History of Field Work
- In the natural sciences, our field sites are not purely “Natural”. The landscapes we work in, and the specimens we collect, exist as they do now because of long ecological and sociopolitical histories. One of my projects excavates the layers of social, economic, and political relations that have made my collection sites what they are today.
It is not inevitable, or accidental, that I collect spiders where I do! Our socionatural historical analysis of my field sites asks fundamental questions: Whose land am I on? Who uses this land now? How has this land been governed, developed, protected, or degraded in the past? Who depends on this land and how do they access it?
