|
"The vast majority of higher flies - the
brachycerans - is endowed with strikingly
similar antennal morphologies and elaborate
antennal mechanosensory organs. Thus far,
however, the function of audition has been
attributed only to the antennae of
Drosophilid and Tephritid flies. Antennal
mechanical sensitivity to sound is now
documented in a broad range of fly species.
These results highlight the wide occurrence
of audition in as many as 120,000 species of
higher Diptera. Antenna-based audition, as
defined by the capacity of sensing the
mechanical vibrations of the antenna in
response to sound, thus appears to
constitute an ubiquitous sensory capacity
among higher flies. Functionally, antennal
hearing can be used in the contexts of
intraspecific acoustic signalling, flight
control, and putatively close-range
echolocation."
From the abstract
-- Robert D, Göpfert MC. Laboratory of
Bioacoustics, Institute for Zoology,
University of Zürich, Winterthurerstr. 190,
CH 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
(Those
crazy wavy fly antennae on this snipe are
probably not used for sensing sound waves in
the same manner as other, higher-order
animals). |
