ABSTRACT
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 319
Frequency Spectra ...................................................................................................................... 320
Acoustic Behaviour during Mating and Acoustic Repertoire
(The Set of Functional Types of Signals) .................................................................................. 320
Temporal Patterns of Calling Signals ........................................................................................ 323
A Case Study — Issidae and Caliscellidae ................................................................................ 325
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 329
The diagnostic value of songs in insects was first recognised in the middle of the 19th century. At
about this time distinct differences in the songs of closely related species of Orthoptera were
discovered (see Ragge and Reynolds, 1998). Recently most taxonomic papers on European
Orthoptera and singing cicadas (Cicadidae) have included oscillograms of calling signals of the
species under investigation. Recording the vibratory signals of small Auchenorrhyncha is a more
difficult task because it requires complex and specialised equipment. However, investigation of
signals of these usually small insects are often the simplest and most reliable method of solving
taxonomic problems.
