An electronic acoustic recorder for quantifying total signaling time, duration, rate and magnitude in acoustically signaling insects

Recent mate choice investigations reveal that females often prefer to mate with males that produce acoustic loud, long, and/or leading acoustic signals. However, only a limited number of studies have examined within population variation in these temporal components. Even fewer studies have estimated their heritabilities. Work has been hindered by the time and personnel required to quantify the variation. A design for building an efficient and inexpensive electronic acoustic recorder (EAR), that enables hypothesis testing of temporal signaling behavior in most acoustically signaling insects, is described. The EAR is attached to a personal computer and samples the acoustic environment of up to 128 individuals, 10 times per second, for unlimited time periods. It compares microphone sound pressure level to a pre-set level and stores signaling/non-signaling data on the computer's hard drive. The EAR monitors when individuals signal temporally, how much time they spend signaling, how loud they signal, duration of signaling bouts, duration of breaks, and when they produce their signaling bouts in relation to their neighbors. The capabilities of the recorder are illustrated with the Texas field cricket, Gryllus texensis.