Female katydids prefer mates 'cool' in winter and 'hot' in summer

MU study determines flexible mating calls may contribute to ecological success of species

This species of katydid (N. Triops) ranges from Peru to Missouri due, in part, to its flexible mating calls. Click here for more information.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Katydid (or didn’t she?) respond to the mating call of her suitors. According to scientists at the University of Missouri, one species of katydid may owe its ecological success and expanded habitat range to the ability of male katydids to adjust their mating calls to attract females.

Males of the katydid species Neoconocephalus triops, which can be found from Peru to Missouri, produce calls to attract females for mating that change with the seasons. The males’ summer calls are much faster than their winter calls. Johannes Schul, MU associate professor of biological sciences, found that females were attracted only by a specific speed of the calls and this preference changed with temperature.

“Warm females preferred much faster calls than cold females,” Schul said. “The fast summer calls attracted females only at high temperatures and the slow winter calls only at lower temperatures. Thus, during the winter, females prefer ‘cool guys,’ and in the summer they ‘like them hot.’ ”