stridulation
Quick Summary
Stridulation is the act of producing a high-pitched, creaking, or musical sound by rubbing together specialized body parts. This sound production is common in many insects, such as male crickets and katydids, and sometimes females, and is important for their behavior and species' success.12
In grasshoppers, stridulation involves rubbing the hindleg across the folded front wing, which has serrations that create sound against raised veins. Crickets and katydids produce sound by rasping teeth on one front wing across a scraper on the other. Some heteropterans also stridulate by rubbing roughened body parts together, though these sounds are typically too faint for humans to hear. This method of sound production, where an animal rubs two hard body parts together, is a way for smaller animals to create higher-frequency sounds than their muscles could otherwise produce.234
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
sound receptionBehavioral observations…these groups produce sounds by stridulation, which usually involves rubbing the covers of the wings together in a particular way. One wing has a serrated surface (a “file”) that runs along an enlarged vein; the other wing has a sharp edge over which the file is scraped. The scraping causes…
Read More…these groups produce sounds by stridulation, which usually involves rubbing the covers of the wings together in a particular way. One wing has a serrated surface (a “file”) that runs along an enlarged vein; the other wing has a sharp edge over which the file is scraped. The scraping causes…
Read More
ColeopteraSound productionStridulation, however, is not confined to adult beetles; it occurs also in certain larvae. Some larvae of the Scarabaeoidea, for example, have a series of ridges, or tubercles, on the coxal segment of the middle pair of legs, and the hind legs are modified in…
Read MoreStridulation, however, is not confined to adult beetles; it occurs also in certain larvae. Some larvae of the Scarabaeoidea, for example, have a series of ridges, or tubercles, on the coxal segment of the middle pair of legs, and the hind legs are modified in…
Read More
fire antNatural history…communicate through chemical secretions and stridulation (sounds produced by rubbing or drumming one body part against another). Adult workers display aggressive behavior when under the threat of attack from neighboring ant colonies, while young fire ants, whose stingers and external skeletons are not yet fully developed, play dead.
Read More…communicate through chemical secretions and stridulation (sounds produced by rubbing or drumming one body part against another). Adult workers display aggressive behavior when under the threat of attack from neighboring ant colonies, while young fire ants, whose stingers and external skeletons are not yet fully developed, play dead.
Read More
heteropteranSound production and reception…parts (also called sonification or stridulation) is common among heteropterans but seldom loud enough to attract human attention. Heteropterans produce sounds by moving one roughened member over a roughened area of body surface. Sometimes both roughened parts consist of a series of minute, closely-set, parallel furrows or ridges called a…
Read More…parts (also called sonification or stridulation) is common among heteropterans but seldom loud enough to attract human attention. Heteropterans produce sounds by moving one roughened member over a roughened area of body surface. Sometimes both roughened parts consist of a series of minute, closely-set, parallel furrows or ridges called a…
Read More
OrthopteraSound production and hearingThe stridulatory mechanism of grasshoppers involves moving the hindleg across the folded front wing (tegmen). Serrations, or pegs, which vary in shape, number, and location among different species, are located on the inner surface of the femur and rub across special raised veins of the tegmen,…
Read MoreThe stridulatory mechanism of grasshoppers involves moving the hindleg across the folded front wing (tegmen). Serrations, or pegs, which vary in shape, number, and location among different species, are located on the inner surface of the femur and rub across special raised veins of the tegmen,…
Read More
