Beyond temperature coupling: Effects of temperature on ectotherm signaling and mate choice and the implications for communication in multispecies assemblages

Many organisms share communication channels, generating complex signaling environments that increase the risk of signal interference. Variation in abiotic conditions, such as temperature, may further exacerbate signal interference, particularly in ectotherms. We tested the effects of temperature on the pulse rate of male signals in a community of Oecanthus tree crickets, and for one focal species we also assessed its effect on female pulse rate preferences and motivation to seek mates. We confirm prior findings of temperature-dependent signals that result in increasing signal similarity at lower temperatures. Temperature also affected several aspects of female preferences: The preferred pulse rate value was temperature dependent, and nearly perfectly coupled with signal pulse rate; the range of pulse rate values that females found attractive also increased with temperature. By contrast, the motivation of females to perform phonotaxis was unaffected by temperature. Thus, at lower temperatures the signals of closely related species were more similar and females more discriminating. However, because signal similarity increased more strongly than female discrimination, signal interference and the likelihood of mismating may increase as temperatures drop. We suggest that a community approach will be useful for understanding the role of environmental variability in the evolution of communication systems.