Balliol Engineering Fellow Alice Cicirello has contributed to research on the vibrational communication of courting planthoppers.
Researchers experimenting on planthoppers at Oxford’s Department of Zoology discovered the complex anatomical structure that these insects use to send vibrational calls along plant stems, in order to attract mates. The structure allows the planthoppers to produce rhythmic motions of their abdomen which release stored energy (demonstrated in the video below).
The researchers call the structure a ‘snapping organ’ because of the speed at which it opens and closes. Vibrational communication is challenging for small animals because of the high mechanical power needed to transmit information over extended distances. By effecting the sudden release of mechanical energy many times faster than could be achieved through the direct action of the planthoppers’ tiny muscles, the snapping organ allows the planthoppers to communicate over distances, despite their small size. ‘The planthoppers have come up with their own novel way to communicate with potential mates,’ said Dr Beth Mortimer at the Department of Zoology, the senior author of the research. ‘You could say it’s their form of snap chat.’
The researchers in the Department of Zoology worked with the Department of Engineering Sciences to build a mathematical model of the mechanism, and DrAliceCicirello (Career Development Fellow in Engineering Science) is one of the lead authors of their research paper, published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. The vibratory organ was found to be present in all planthoppers, including some that are commercially significant as they are a serious pest on rice in the developing world. ‘Understanding how these insects signal to each other may help in disrupting their communication channels,’ says Dr Mortimer. You can watch a video about the discovery here.