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Patterns of stridulation variability in the genus Trypocopris (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoldea, Geotrupinae) [abstract]

Loredana Carisio, Claudia Palestrini, Antonio Rolando and Luigi Romeo (2002). Patterns of stridulation variability in the genus Trypocopris (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoldea, Geotrupinae) [abstract]. Bioacoustics, Volume 13 (2): 198 -199

 

Abstract: 

The genus Trypocopris Motschulsky, 1858 includes six species of medium-large size tunnellers, inhabiting pastures and forests of the Palearctic Region. The genus encompasses a large geographical area, but species' ranges are highly fragmented and several subspecies have been recognised and described on morphological grounds. At this very preliminary stage of the research we analysed distress signals of three species (T. alpinus, T. pyrenaeus and T. vernalis) to compare bioacoustic and morphological patterns of variability and differentiation. Insects were collected during the summer of 2000 in north-western Italy and sounds were recorded in an anechoic chamber. Recordings were analysed using Avisoft-SASlab Pro 3.92b software. Four temporal and seven frequency variables were sampled from the displayed waveforms and sonograms. Both inter-sex and inter-specific relationships were examined. A nested analysis of variance showed significant differences between sexes in one temporal and five frequency variables and among species in three temporal and seven frequency variables. A discriminant function analysis significantly discriminated between sexes and among species, suggesting that stridulation distress signals can be considered both sex and species-specific morphological characters.

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