TARGET STRENGTH VARIES WITH A MOTH’S WING POSITIONING, BUT IS INDEPENDENT OF ACOUSTIC CAMOUFLAGE PROVIDED BY BODY SCALES

Ella Kennedy, Max Boot, Cynthia Bom, Paul Jerem, Wouter Halfwerk, Ralph Simon, Matthew Shawkey, Liliana D’Alba

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Many aerial insectivorous bats hunt via echolocation; they emit a directional sound beam through their nostrils or mouth and process returning echoes from their environment. This acoustic foraging makes bats highly effective predators, which perhaps not surprisingly, has led to several counter-adaptations in their prey species. Nocturnally active moths (Lepidoptera) and the hairs and scales on their wings and bodies are particularly interesting to study, as they may absorb or scatter the energy of a bat’s call and thereby ‘acoustically camouflage’ the moths. In recent years, a handful of studies have developed experimental set-ups to realistically mimic echolocation signal production and processing to investigate acoustic camouflage of moths in the lab. These set-ups typically produce ultrasonic frequency sweeps of sound and measure the reflected echoes from a target. Previous research has used dead specimens pinned with wings in the same plane as the body. This is despite most instances of predation events happening during flight, where wing position constantly varies. Here we use high-throughput ensonification of moth specimens to identify the effect of wing positionings typical of flight on the target strength of Brown-tail moths (Euproctis chrysorrhoea). We also assess the effect of re-positioning a target and angle of incident sound on target strength measurements. Understanding the variation and error inherent in these systems is essential in determining the accuracy of previous research and improving the ecological validity of acoustic camouflage measurements.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 30th International Congress on Sound and Vibration, ICSV 2024
EditorsWim van Keulen, Jim Kok
PublisherSociety of Acoustics
Pages1-7
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9789090390581
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Event30th International Congress on Sound and Vibration, ICSV 2024 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Duration: 8 Jul 202411 Jul 2024

Publication series

NameProceedings of the International Congress on Sound and Vibration
ISSN (Electronic)2329-3675

Conference

Conference30th International Congress on Sound and Vibration, ICSV 2024
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityAmsterdam
Period8/07/2411/07/24

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Proceedings of the International Congress on Sound and Vibration. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Acoustic camouflage
  • Echolocation
  • Lepidoptera

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