Acoustic communication in the synchronizing bushcricket species

Mecopoda elongata: behaviour, neuroethology, simulation and biorobotics D i s s e r t a t i o n zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines doctor rerum naturalium Contents 1 General introduction 1 2 Masking noise and its effect on acoustic communication in Mecopoda: neuronal and behavioural masking 9 2. 4 Reliable coding of small, behaviourally relevant interaural intensity differences in a pair of interneurons of an insect 35 4. 5 The active space of insect acoustic signals: variation with competitors and transmission properties 43 5. 6 Neuroethology of female preference in the synchronously singing bushcricket Mecopoda elongata (Tettigoniidae; Orthoptera): why do followers call at all? 57 6. 7 Preferences for leader signals under realistic chorus situations: neurophysiology, simulations and robotics 77 7.