Vibrational noise disrupts Nezara viridula communication, irrespective of spectral overlap

Janža, Rok (author), Stritih Peljhan, Nataša (author), Škorjanc, Aleš (author), Polajnar, Jernej (author), Virant-Doberlet, Meta (author)

Insects rely on substrate vibrations in numerous intra- and interspecific interactions. Yet, our knowledge of noise impact in this modality lags behind that in audition, limiting our understanding of how anthropogenic noise affects insect communities. Auditory research has linked impaired signal perception in noise (i.e., masking) to spectral overlap. We investigated the impact of noise with different spectral compositions on the vibrational communication of the stink bug Nezara viridula, examining courtship behaviour and signal representation by sensory neurons. We found negative effects of vibrational noise regardless of spectral overlap, challenging common expectations. Noise impaired the ability of males to recognize the female signal and localise its source: overlapping noise decreased sensitivity of receptor neurons to the signal and disrupted signal frequency encoding by phase-locking units, while non-overlapping noise only affected frequency encoding. Modelling neuronal spike triggering in sensory neurons linked disrupted frequency encoding to interference-induced alterations of the signal waveform. These alterations also affected time delays between signal arrivals to different legs, crucial for localisation. Our study thus unveils a new masking mechanism, potentially unique to insect vibrosensory systems. The findings highlight the higher vulnerability of vibration-mediated behaviour to noise, with implications for insect interactions in natural and anthropogenically altered environments.

• Language: English
• Keywords: biotremology, vibrations, noise, communication, neurons, masking, entomology, neurobiology, animal behaviour, sensory processing
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 12 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 7, art. 1533
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-176023
• UDC: 591
• ISSN on article: 2399-3642
• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-07185-3
• COBISS.SI-ID: 216019971
• Publication date in RUL: 18.11.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Communications biology
• Shortened title: Commun. biolog.
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 2399-3642
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5134671

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: biotremologija, vibracijski šum, stenice, spolno vedenje, entomologija, nevrobiologija, Nezara viridula