Traffic noise is making female crickets less picky

Bog Bush-Cricket (Metrioptera brachyptera) female – Creech Heath, Dorset
Photo by Will Atkins under creative commons

iNews reports traffic noise makes female crickets less picky when choosing a mate, a new study from Anglia Ruskin University suggests, threatening their long-term survival. Male crickets perform courtship songs to attract a female by rubbing their wings together. Females will generally pick the male with the best serenade. But road noise is making it harder for female crickets to distinguish between a top notch song and an off-key performance, the researchers said. 

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