Grasshoppers boost bass in search for love Changing tune City
grasshoppers are changing their tune in an effort to be heard by
potential mates over the noise from their urban environment. To
produce their song, male grasshoppers rub a toothed file on his
hind legs against a protruding vein on his front wings. But the
increasing level of noise has over time made it difficult for
their songs to be heard by other crickets. Now a team of German
biologists have discovered that the clever insect has found a
way to get through the din. They found that grasshoppers change
the song so that it boosts lower-frequency notes, making it
audible over the rumble from the road. Ulrike Lampe and
colleagues from the University of Bielefeld captured 188 male
bow-winged grasshoppers (Chorthippus biguttulus), half from
quiet locations and half from beside busy roads. Bow-winged
grasshoppers are a common species in central Europe. The male's
courtship song consists of up to half a dozen phrases, each
about two or three seconds long