Neurobiology of Acoustically Mediated Predator Detection

Overview

Journal J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol

Publisher Springer

Specialties Neurology
Social Sciences

Date 2014 Oct 12

PMID 25305136

Citations 5

Authors

Gerald S Pollack

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ultrasound-driven avoidance responses have evolved repeatedly throughout the insecta as defenses against predation by echolocating bats. Although the auditory mechanics of ears and the properties of auditory receptor neurons have been studied in a number of groups, central neural processing of ultrasound stimuli has been examined in only a few cases. In this review, I summarize the neuronal basis for ultrasound detection and predator avoidance in crickets, tettigoniids, moths, and mantises, where central circuits have been studied most thoroughly. Several neuronal attributes, including steep intensity-response functions, high firing rates, and rapid spike conduction emerge as common themes of avoidance circuits. I discuss the functional consequences of these attributes, as well as the increasing complexity with which ultrasound stimuli are represented at successive levels of processing.

Citing Articles

Firing feature-driven neural circuits with scalable memristive neurons for robotic obstacle avoidance.

Yang Y, Zhu F, Zhang X, Chen P, Wang Y, Zhu J Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):4318.

PMID: 38773067 PMC: 11109161. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48399-7.

Persistence of auditory modulation of wind-induced escape behavior in crickets.

Lu A, Fukutomi M, Shidara H, Ogawa H Front Physiol. 2023; 14:1153913.

PMID: 37250114 PMC: 10214467. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1153913.

Decision making in the face of a deadly predator: high-amplitude behavioural thresholds can be adaptive for rainforest crickets under high background noise levels.

Romer H, Holderied M Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020; 375(1802):20190471.

PMID: 32420855 PMC: 7331017. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0471.

Crickets alter wind-elicited escape strategies depending on acoustic context.

Fukutomi M, Ogawa H Sci Rep. 2017; 7(1):15158.

PMID: 29123249 PMC: 5680309. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15276-x.

Insect hearing: from physics to ecology.

Ronacher B, Romer H J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2014; 201(1):1-4.

PMID: 25412731 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0966-3.

References

Yager D, Hoy R . Audition in the praying mantis, Mantis religiosa L.: identification of an interneuron mediating ultrasonic hearing. J Comp Physiol A. 1989; 165(4):471-93. DOI: 10.1007/BF00611236. View

Yager D, May M, Fenton M . Ultrasound-triggered, flight-gated evasive maneuvers in the praying mantis Parasphendale agrionina. I. Free flight. J Exp Biol. 1990; 152:17-39. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.152.1.17. View

Fullard J, Simmons J, Saillant P . Jamming bat echolocation: the dogbane tiger moth Cycnia tenera times its clicks to the terminal attack calls of the big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus. J Exp Biol. 1994; 194:285-98. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.194.1.285. View

Imaizumi K, Pollack G . Neural representation of sound amplitude by functionally different auditory receptors in crickets. J Acoust Soc Am. 2001; 109(3):1247-60. DOI: 10.1121/1.1348004. View

Imaizumi K, Pollack G . Neural coding of sound frequency by cricket auditory receptors. J Neurosci. 1999; 19(4):1508-16. PMC: 6786046. View

Triblehorn J, Yager D . Timing of praying mantis evasive responses during simulated bat attack sequences. J Exp Biol. 2005; 208(Pt 10):1867-76. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.01565. View

Yack J . The structure and function of auditory chordotonal organs in insects. Microsc Res Tech. 2004; 63(6):315-37. DOI: 10.1002/jemt.20051. View

Schul J, Sheridan R . Auditory stream segregation in an insect. Neuroscience. 2005; 138(1):1-4. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2005.11.023. View

Atkins G, Pollack G . Age-dependent occurrence of an ascending axon on the omega neuron of the cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. J Comp Neurol. 1986; 243(4):527-34. DOI: 10.1002/cne.902430407. View

10.

Marsat G, Pollack G . Bursting neurons and ultrasound avoidance in crickets. Front Neurosci. 2012; 6:95. PMC: 3387578. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00095. View

11.

Yager D . Serially homologous ears perform frequency range fractionation in the praying mantis, Creobroter (Mantodea, Hymenopodidae). J Comp Physiol A. 1996; 178(4):463-75. DOI: 10.1007/BF00190177. View

12.

Romer H, Marquart V, Hardt M . Organization of a sensory neuropile in the auditory pathway of two groups of Orthoptera. J Comp Neurol. 1988; 275(2):201-15. DOI: 10.1002/cne.902750204. View

13.

Nolen T, Hoy R . Postsynaptic inhibition mediates high-frequency selectivity in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus: implications for flight phonotaxis behavior. J Neurosci. 1987; 7(7):2081-96. PMC: 6568953. View

14.

Lewis F, Fullard J . Neurometamorphosis of the ear in the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, and its homologue in the earless forest tent caterpillar moth, Malacosoma disstria. J Neurobiol. 1996; 31(2):245-62. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4695(199610)31:2<245::AID-NEU9>3.0.CO;2-B. View

15.

Staudacher E . Sensory responses of descending brain neurons in the walking cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus. J Comp Physiol A. 2001; 187(1):1-17. DOI: 10.1007/s003590000171. View

16.

Yager D . Predator detection and evasion by flying insects. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012; 22(2):201-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.12.011. View

17.

Libersat F, Hoy R . Ultrasonic startle behavior in bushcrickets (Orthoptera; Tettigoniidae). J Comp Physiol A. 1991; 169(4):507-14. DOI: 10.1007/BF00197663. View

18.

Yager D, May M . Ultrasound-triggered, flight-gated evasive maneuvers in the praying mantis Parasphendale agrionina. II. Tethered flight. J Exp Biol. 1990; 152:41-58. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.152.1.41. View

19.

Faure P, Hoy R . Neuroethology of the katydid T-cell. I. Tuning and responses to pure tones. J Exp Biol. 2000; 203(Pt 21):3225-42. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.203.21.3225. View

20.

Anton S, Evengaard K, Barrozo R, Anderson P, Skals N . Brief predator sound exposure elicits behavioral and neuronal long-term sensitization in the olfactory system of an insect. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; 108(8):3401-5. PMC: 3044404. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1008840108. View