Competition and cooperation in a synchronous bushcricket chorus

What is it about?

Synchronous signalling in male assemblies of the same species is still a conundrum. This study sheds light on the contribution of cooperation and competition to synchrony. Females of the bushcricket species Mecopoda elongata prefer periodic signal with a conspecific signal period of 2s over faster and slower periods. This forces males to signal in synchrony and increased signal amplitude of 4 males by 7 dB. Unexpectedly, mating advantage is similar in a chorus compared to a solo singer.

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Why is it important?

For the first time it was shown that four synchronously singing males increase peak signal amplitude by more than 7 dB. However, females selecting between a loud chorus song and a softer solo song exhibited no significant preference. In this species females exhibit a strong leader preference which forces males to compete for timing signals as leader in acoustic interactions. By doing so chorus synchrony emerges as a by-product of inter-male competition.