Acoustic communication

Definition

The transmission of information between organisms through sound production and reception, encompassing both airborne and substrate-borne vibrations. In arthropods, this modality serves functions including mate location, predator avoidance, territorial defense, and social coordination. Signals may be generated via stridulation (friction of body parts), tymbal vibration, percussion, or air expulsion, and detected through tympanal organs, subgenual organs, or hair sensilla sensitive to particle velocity.

Etymology

From Greek akoustikos (of or for hearing) and Latin communicare (to share, impart)

Example

Male crickets (Gryllidae) produce species-specific calling songs by stridulating their forewings to attract females; parasitoid tachinid flies (Ormia ochracea) use these same acoustic cues to locate and deposit larvae on the singing males.

Synonyms

• sound communication
• bioacoustic signaling
• auditory communication

Related Terms

• stridulation
• tympanal organ
• Vibrational communication
• Pheromone
• bioacoustics
• deimatic display

Usage Notes

Distinguished from vibrational communication (seismochannel signals traveling through solid substrates) though the boundary is porous—many insects detect both. 'Acoustic' in strict usage implies airborne sound, but entomologists often include substrate-borne signals under this umbrella. Human speech and bird song, while prominent in general bioacoustics, are peripheral to entomological usage.