Data from: Neural representation of bat predation risk and evasive flight in moths: a modelling approach

Most animals are at risk from multiple predators and can vary
anti-predator behaviour based on the level of threat posed by each
predator. Animals use sensory systems to detect predator cues, but the
relationship between the tuning of sensory systems and the sensory cues
related to predator threat are not well-studied at the community level.
Noctuid moths have ultrasound-sensitive ears to detect the echolocation
calls of predatory bats. Here, combining empirical data and mathematical
modelling, we show that moth hearing is adapted to provide information
about the threat posed by different sympatric bat species. First, we found
that multiple characteristics related to the threat posed by bats to moths
correlate with bat echolocation call frequency. Second, the frequency
tuning of the most sensitive auditory receptor in noctuid moth ears
provides information allowing moths to escape detection by all sympatric
bats with similar safety margin distances. Third, the least sensitive
auditory receptor usually responds to bat echolocation calls at a similar
distance across all moth species for a given bat species. If this neuron
triggers last-ditch evasive flight, it suggests that there is an ideal
reaction distance for each bat species, regardless of moth size. This
study shows that even a very simple sensory system can adapt to deliver
information suitable for triggering appropriate defensive reactions to
each predator in a multiple predator community.