Cricket Course 2023 - Recap
Among all animals, insects show unparalleled diversity in hearing and sound production. Of all insects, the orthopteran suborder Ensifera includes more than 15,000 described species of familiar singing insects, such as crickets and katydids, as well as interesting non-singing insects, such as cave crickets and wetas, and represents the most species-rich lineage using acoustic signals as a main mode of communication. Nevertheless, there has not been a platform in North America to provide structured hands-on training in these amazing insects' identification, ecology, behavior, and bioacoustics. Therefore, as part of the National Science Foundation grant titled "NSFDEB-NERC: Multidisciplinary approach to bioacoustics: Integrating phylogenomics, biophysics, and functional genomics to unravel the evolution of hearing and singing in katydids, crickets, and allies" (DEB-1937815), we have assembled a team of currently active specialists to create and offer a unique workshop called "THE CRICKET COURSE.” We offered this 5-day workshop for the first time July 3-7, 2023, at the beautiful Archbold Biological Station (ABS) near Lake Placid, Florida, one of the most renowned biological stations in the world. Of Course, it is home to numerous orthopterans, which makes ABS a perfect place to learn about crickets and katydids.
The instructors for the CRICKET COURSE 2023 were Dr. Hojun Song and Brandon Woo from Texas A&M University, who specializes in systematics, Dr. Fernando Montealegre-Z and Charlie Woodrow from the University of Lincoln (U.K.), who specialize in bioacoustics, and biophysics, and Dr. Nathan Bailey from the University of St. Andrews (U.K.) who specializes on behavioral genetics and mating biology. We had 16 participants, mostly from the U.S., but also from Taiwan and New Zealand. The participants included mostly graduate students, but also an undergraduate student, a postdoc, amateurs, and other professionals.
The first day (July 3) was the CRICKET COURSE was dedicated to learning about the taxonomy, phylogeny, and identification of Ensifera. The Course started with a brief introduction followed by Hojun’s lecture on the taxonomy and phylogeny of Ensifera and the primer of ensiferan morphology. These two lectures served as a crash course on the diversity of Ensifera of the world. Following these, students were given the key to subfamilies of Ensifera of the world, compiled by Hojun, and learned to identify the museum specimens using this key. Students learned to recognize important diagnostic traits and worked their way through the key by spending time on their microscopes. In the afternoon, Brandon gave a lecture on the diversity of North American Ensifera. Brandon is an orthopterist extraordinaire and an excellent macro photographer, and his lecture featured many of his amazing photos. Following this lecture, students went back to identify more ensiferans, but this time using the key to genera of the North American and Florida Ensifera, compiled by Brandon. After dinner, we all headed to the Red Hill area and collected katydids and crickets. At night, the Archbold comes alive with numerous species of Ensifera singing loudly. Because we wanted to teach how to process the catches, the specimens were collected alive and kept in small cages. Fernando was very excited to find Phlugis chrysopa, a species in the Caribbean that somehow invaded Florida. This particular species sings at an ultrasound frequency and appears to be adapting to this new environment.
The second day (July 4) was dedicated to learning about bioacoustics, online resources, and sample processing. We started with a lecture by Fernando on sound production in Ensifera. Because Fernando is the leading authority on the biomechanics of cricket and katydid sound production, his lecture featured some of his own latest findings, which were very interesting. Using mathematical modeling, Fernando was able to reconstruct the songs from the fossil specimens, which was quite amazing. Following this lecture on sound production, Charlie gave a lecture on hearing in Ensifera. Fernando and Charlie brought ultrasonic microphones and an oscilloscope as well as 3D printed models of katydid ears, which allowed us to visualize how different katydid species would hear and how the shape of the ear covering (pinnae) would affect eh hearing range of the katydids. Students also learned how to use Audacity to analyze the recorded songs. In the afternoon, Brandon lectured on using online resources such as the Orthoptera Species File (OSF), BugGuide, iNaturalist, and Singing Insects of North America (SINA). Because Brandon is a major contributor to some of these online resources, he gave an excellent overview of how these resources can be used for research. Following Brandon’s lecture, Hojun showed how to properly kill insects using kill jars and various preservation methods. At night, we went out with hand-held tablets connected to ultrasonic microphones (Echo Meter 2) and learned to field-record cricket and katydid songs.
The third day (July 5) was dedicated to learning about the ecology and natural history of Ensifera, how to set up behavioral experiments using Ensifera, sound analyses based on the field recording from last night, and a field trip to Highlands Hammock State Park. In the morning, Nathan gave a lecture on the ecology of Ensifera. Nathan shared some of his own research on the evolutionary dynamics between the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus and the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea and how these cricket males lost the ability to produce sound. Following his lecture, we brainstormed some ideas on conducting a behavioral experiment using some of the ensiferan insects found at the Archbold. We settled on the Florida true katydid Lea floridensis, which is abundantly present and calls loudly at night. We came up with an idea to experimentally test the effect of disturbance on the katydid’s singing activity. In the afternoon, we all traveled to the Highlands Hammock State Park, well known for cypress swamps and an old-growth hammock. We chose this place to visit to contrast with the scrub habitats at the Archbold. Unfortunately, the park did not have a lot of ensiferans, but the students enjoyed the boardwalks and very different habitats.
The fourth day (July 6) started with Charlie’s lecture on interdisciplinary research using Ensifera. After a short lecture, the students were divided into groups to brainstorm ideas to develop bio-inspired products. Students came up with novel and exciting ideas, such as a katydid-inspired night vision, a mole cricket-inspired underground robot, an ensiferan antennae-inspired sensory gloves, etc. It was a fun exercise to think outside the box and think about some real-life applications inspired by the ensiferan insects. Following this lecture, Po-Wei Chen, a participant from Taiwan, gave a presentation regarding Orthoptera research in Taiwan. He talked about the history of orthopteran research in Taiwan, and shared his experience studying Orthoptera. It was very interesting to learn about a very different ensiferan fauna. After this lecture, Hojun and other instructors described various methods for rearing crickets and katydids for research. In the afternoon, we had a guest Zoom lecture by Dr. David Weissman, who has studied the taxonomy of crickets and Jerusalem crickets for decades. Dr. Weissman gave a brief history of how he became interested in these insects and shared his research and how he was able to collaborate with diverse researchers to achieve his goal. In the afternoon, students continued to work through their identifications and analyzed the field-recorded songs. We also visited the entomology lab, where Brandon explained the research that has been conducted by Dr. Mark Deyrup. After dinner, some folks went to Lake Annie and plunged into the water to cool off from the heatwave. At night, the students were divided into several groups and conducted behavioral experiments to study the effect of light disturbance on the calling behavior of Lea floridensis. For this experiment, 3-4 students formed a group, located a calling male, and tested whether shining a bright light (white or red) would affect its calling behavior. The students collected data, which were analyzed the following day.
The fifth day (July 6) was the last full day of the CRICKET COURSE. We first took a group photo and went on a morning hike to find scrub habitats with the rosemary bald. We saw Florida scrub jays as well as the Florida rosemary grasshopper Schistocerca ceratiola. It was very hot and humid, but being out in the scrub during the morning was amazing. In the afternoon, we had another Zoom guest lecture by Dr. Ryan Ardoin, a food sensory scientist at USDA, who talked about developing cricket-based foods for the general public. It was a very informative talk, and we learned a lot about how people’s perceptions of insects would affect the consumer market. After this invited lecture, we analyzed the last night's behavioral experiment data, which collectively suggested that the light disturbance had a minimal effect on disrupting the calling behavior of the species. Afterward, we cleaned and packed our gear, and the students provided course evaluations. This CRICKET COURSE was a transformative experience for many participants. In the evening, we had a nice social and dinner, followed by a salsa dancing lesson from Fernando. The Course ended on a positive note, and everyone was very satisfied.
Overall, the inaugural CRICKET COURSE was a resounding success, and the students became much more knowledgeable about Ensifera. The Archbold Biological Station was a fantastic place to host this Course, with unlimited access to diverse natural areas where many crickets and katydids were abundantly present. We plan to offer the CRICKET COURSE every other year, and hopefully, we will return to Archbold sometime soon.