Male Grasshopper Behaviour:
Male and female grasshoppers have different behaviours that impact their reproductive rate. It is the male grasshopper who mainly produces the mating songs, and can be either inactive or active. Active signalling is where the grasshopper sings via stridulation and inactive is where they don’t sing at all (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). Males can switch between being active and inactive, but it is usually the active signallers that accomplish greater mating success (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). Males in a high-density population had a higher incidence of inactive signalling. This adoption of the inactive behaviour is due to the aggressive encounters between male grasshoppers (competition between males for females) and their age (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). Overall males acoustically signal to attract females into their territory, but sometimes males have a mischievous alternative strategy. An inactive male will position himself near another actively signalling male, and then it will wait to intercept the females that have been attracted to the active signaller’s song (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). This behavioural alternative exists when there is a high population density, because not all males can find suitable territories to broadcast their songs. The video below shows a male and female grasshopper mating while another competitor tries to intercept.
Male and female grasshoppers have different behaviours that impact their reproductive rate. It is the male grasshopper who mainly produces the mating songs, and can be either inactive or active. Active signalling is where the grasshopper sings via stridulation and inactive is where they don’t sing at all (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). Males can switch between being active and inactive, but it is usually the active signallers that accomplish greater mating success (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). Males in a high-density population had a higher incidence of inactive signalling. This adoption of the inactive behaviour is due to the aggressive encounters between male grasshoppers (competition between males for females) and their age (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). Overall males acoustically signal to attract females into their territory, but sometimes males have a mischievous alternative strategy. An inactive male will position himself near another actively signalling male, and then it will wait to intercept the females that have been attracted to the active signaller’s song (Greenfield and Shelly 1985). This behavioural alternative exists when there is a high population density, because not all males can find suitable territories to broadcast their songs. The video below shows a male and female grasshopper mating while another competitor tries to intercept.