ARTHOPOD BIOLOGY Pulse Rates in the Songs of Trilling Field Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Gryllus)

In cricket calling songs, pulse rate is often the feature that allows females to home on the songs of conspeciÞc males while ignoring those of other species. A previous study of the sibling speciesGryllus rubensScudderandG. texensisCade&Otte fromwesternFlorida showedunexpected effects of developmental conditions and parental generation on the pulse rates of their songs. The current study tested for these andother effects inG. rubens fromGainesville, FL, andG. texensis from Dallas, TX. In both species, sibships from different Þeld-fertilized females differed signiÞcantly in the effects of rearing environment on the pulse rates of their songs. Tests for effects of nymphal diapause and adult age were negative. Hybrids between the two species produced pulse rates intermediate to the rates of the control crosses. Males of G. rubens reared at 328C produced faster pulse rates (at a standard temperature) than those reared at 258C. Furthermore, pulse rates of Þeld-collected males in this study and of Þeld-collected and laboratory-reared males in the previous study increased in rough proportion to the known and estimated temperatures during nymphal