Tishechkin D.Yu., Bukhvalova M.A. 2010. Acoustic communication in grasshopper communities (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Gomphocerinae): segregation of acoustic niches // Russian Entomol. J. Vol.18 (for 2009). No.3: 165–188 [in English].
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobyevy Gory, Moscow 119991, Russia. E-mail: macropsis@yandex.ru
KEY WORDS: grasshoppers, Acrididae, Gomphocerinae, songs, signals, communities, acoustic communication, communication channels, Russia.
ABSTRACT. Comparative study of calling signals in the communities of grasshoppers of the subfamily Gomphocerinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in European Russia, South Siberia and the Russian Far East was conducted. Different kinds of variability of signals were investigated. General structure of signals (single echeme or echeme-sequence), temporal pattern of syllables and their repetition period were demonstrated to be most constant characters and, consequently, most reliable when used in systematics. Combination of these characters provides for each species its own “place” in the acoustic environment of the community, so-called acoustic niche, which is a part of the ecological niche as a whole. Species producing similar signals, i.e. occupying the same acoustic niche are always either allopatric or inhabit different biotopes and thus avoid competition for acoustic communication channels.