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Vibratory Sensing and Communication in Caterpillars

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Biotremology: Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution

Part of the book series: Animal Signals and Communication ((ANISIGCOM,volume 8))

Abstract

Over the past few decades, scientists have discovered that insects live in complex vibratory environments that they both create and exploit for their survival. Yet, this growing body of literature is focused predominantly on adults, leaving a significant knowledge gap on vibratory sensing and communication in juveniles. There is burgeoning yet scattered evidence indicating that juveniles use vibrations in a wide range of contexts. In this chapter, we endeavored to synthesize the literature on vibratory sensing and communication in caterpillars (larval Lepidoptera). Caterpillars are obligate substrate-bound insects that are exposed to a wide range of vibrations generated by biotic and abiotic sources. This chapter shows that caterpillars across diverse taxonomic groups use vibrations in a variety of contexts, including predator detection and risk assessment, detection of abiotic events such as wind and rain, recruitment and spacing, territorial defense, and maintaining relationships with ants. While it is clear that many caterpillars are capable of detecting and discriminating between vibration sources, vibration receptors have not yet been identified in caterpillars, or any other holometabolous insect larvae. We discuss potential vibration receptors in larvae based on our knowledge of adult receptors and larval morphology and physiology. The vibratory landscapes of juvenile insects, including eggs, larvae, nymphs, and pupae, remain poorly understood. Yet, most juveniles are substrate-bound, and therefore, it is likely that vibrations play an important role in their survival. We recommend further investigations on vibratory sensing and communication in juveniles, from documenting the species using vibrations to discovering the sensory organs involved in detecting and processing vibratory information.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Christian Nathan and Conrado Rosi-Denadai for help in reviewing literature for parts of the paper, to Kaylen Brzezinski for the line drawings (Figs. 19.1 and 19.2), and to Francesca Barbero and Michele Zaccagno for contributing a photo and recording of M. alcom (Fig. 19.3). This research was funded by the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada (2014-05947), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (9555), and an Early Researcher Award (ERO7-04-1-44) to JEY, and Ontario Graduate Scholarship to CY.

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  1. Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Jayne E. Yack & Chanchal Yadav

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  1. Jayne E. Yack
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  2. Chanchal Yadav
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Correspondence to Jayne E. Yack .

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  1. Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Peggy S. M. Hill

  2. Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all’Adige, Trento, Italy

    Valerio Mazzoni

  3. Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology (NIB), Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Nataša Stritih-Peljhan

  4. Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Meta Virant-Doberlet

  5. Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery, Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Berlin, Germany

    Andreas Wessel

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Yack, J.E., Yadav, C. (2022). Vibratory Sensing and Communication in Caterpillars. In: Hill, P.S.M., Mazzoni, V., Stritih-Peljhan, N., Virant-Doberlet, M., Wessel, A. (eds) Biotremology: Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution. Animal Signals and Communication, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97419-0_19

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