Ripple effects in a communication network: Anti-eavesdropper defence elicits elaborated sexual signals in rival males

Emitting conspicuous signals into the environment to attract mates comes with the increased risk of interception by eavesdropping enemies. As a defence, a commonly described strategy is for signallers to group together in leks, diluting each individual’s risk. Lekking systems are often highly social settings in which competing males dynamically alter their signalling behaviour to attract mates. Thus, signalling at the lek requires navigating fluctuations in risk, competition, and reproductive opportunities. Here, we investigate how behavioural defence strategies directed at an eavesdropping enemy have cascading effects across the communication network. We investigated these behaviours in the túngara frog (Engystomops pustulosus), examining how a calling male’s swatting defence directed at frog-biting midges indirectly affects the calling behaviour of his rival. We found that the rival responds to swat-induced water ripples by increasing his call rate and complexity. Then, performing pho..., Rival male experiment
In August 2017, we collected calling male túngara frogs 1 to 4 hours after sunset from breeding sites within 1.5 km of Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute facilities (Gamboa, Panamá; 9°07.0’N, 79°41.9’W). Frogs took part in behavioural experiments in a large outdoor flight cage (5×5×2.5 m) within 3 hours following capture and before midnight. Following protocols established by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (https://asih.org/animal-care-guidelines), after each experiment we weighed, measured and toe-clipped the frog (to prevent testing the same individual multiple times), and released him the following night at his collection location. The research reported here complied with University of Texas at Austin #s AUP-2015-00048, AUP-2017-00051 and AUP-2020-00034; STRI IACUC protocols 2017-0102-2020-A8, 2018-0411-2021; and República de Panamá permits SE/AO-1-17, SE/A-44-18, SE/A-40-19, SE/A 69-15 and SE/AH-2-6.
Field recordings
To sample th..., , # Ripple effects in a communication network: anti-eavesdropper defence elicits elaborated sexual signals in rival males

Authors: Brian C. Leavell, Hoover Pantoja-Sánchez, Viviana Vélez, Claire T. Hemingway, Kyle Wilhite, Wouter Halfwerk, Ximena E. Bernal
Dates of data collection: 2017-2019
Location of data collection: Gamboa, Panamá
Keywords: communication, male-male competition, predator-prey, foraging, vibratory cue, sexual selection

## Audio Playback Files:

Audio Playback Files:

* “audio_call_airborne.wav”
* “audio_call_ripple.wav”
* “audio_swat_highintensity.wav”
* “audio_swat_lowintensity.wav”

## Data  (variable descriptions shown in Scripts section below):

field_vibro_rec_data.csv

* Output from “d_wave.m” MATLAB script when processing laser doppler vibrometer audio files recorded in the field
* Measurements of call and swat ripples from the field
* Variables

* Note: “NA” indicates that there was no value, as the measurement category did not pertain to...