Synchrony of Non-isochronous Signals in an Acoustically Communicating Katydid

Summary The ability to entrain to auditory stimuli has been a powerful method to investigate the comparative rhythm abilities of different animals. While synchrony to regular (isochronous) rhythms is well documented, synchrony to non-isochronous stimuli, with multiple components at unequal time intervals, is rarer. Several katydid species with isochronous calls have been shown to achieve synchrony as part of their natural calling interactions in multi-individual choruses. Yet no study so far has demonstrated synchrony in any insect with a non-isochronous call. Using natural calling behaviour and playback experiments, we investigated acoustic synchrony and the mechanisms underlying it in the katydid species Mecopoda ‘Two Part Caller’. This species has a complex non-isochronous call consisting of a long trill followed by two or more chirps. We found that individual males synchronized trills and, to a lesser extent, chirps. Further investigation of trill synchrony showed that timing of trills is modified by external trills but not chirps. Chirp synchrony is modified by external chirps but also by trills. We suggest a two-oscillator model underlying synchrony in this species and discuss the implications for the evolution of acoustic synchrony.