Roles of interplant movement, acoustic communication, and phototaxis in mate-location behavior of the leafhopper Graminella nigrifrons

Summary

Male Graminella nigrifrons leafhoppers (Cicadellidae: Homoptera) employ a “call-fly” strategy to find virgin females on oat host plants. Males observed in isolation during daylight hours exhibit a high rate of interplant movement, calling from the lower canopy on each plant visited. Virgin and mated females exhibit little interplant movement. They differ from one another in that virgin females perch on the upper half of plants, whereas mated females perch on the lower half of plants. The positioning of females in the plant canopy is influenced by light. Unlike mated females, virgin females respond to male calls by emitting their own acoustic signals. When virgin females are present on plants visited by males, interplant movement of males ceases, and a localized-upward search of the female bearing plant ensues. Male search is influenced by light. Regardless of whether virgin females were confined to the upper or lower portion of plants, direction of male search was towards a light source used to illuminate above or below the plant canopy. These findings suggest that interplant movement by males and sedentary behavior by females prior to mate recognition and their use of acoustic and phototactic sensory modalities after mate recognition represent previously unrecognized adaptations to problems associated with the use of vibrational signals on plants.