Publication Date:
2008-01-01
Description:
A detailed description of the spectrographic and oscillographic features of the male calling song of Saga rammei is presented for the first time. The study is based on Macedonian specimens. The song of S. rammei is a mainly amplitude-modulated signal having wide-band frequency spectrum containing well detectable frequency components between 15 kHz and 80 kHz (intensity maximum between 20–30 kHz). The male song is a sequence of echemes, which are composed of evenly and quickly repeated diplo-hemisyllabic syllables. Echemes begin with a gradually crescending initial part that leads to the main part of the echeme, where the peak amplitude of the syllables is nearly constant. This structure is similar to those described in other European Saga species (S. hellenica, S. campbelli, S. natoliae). However, the results suggest that amongst the European Saga species S. rammei produces the shortest echemes composed of the lowest number of syllables repeated with the highest syllable repetition rate and that the species sings with the shortest echeme repetition period. Those quantitative features make the song of S. rammei distinct and easily recognisable, and therefore could be used by females or males for species recognition.
Print ISSN:
0006-3088
Electronic ISSN:
1336-9563
Topics:
Biology
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