SSS 2011-10-12

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Jiminy Cricket may not actually hold the door open for his lady friends, but he can still be chivalrous¹: researchers from the University of Exeter discovered that when threatened by predators², a male field cricket will protect his mate by letting her enter their burrow³ first. The work is published in the journal Current Biology. 

 

Using microphones and infrared⁴ cameras, researchers monitored a Spanish cricket population for three seasons. They identified each cricket with a tiny numbered nametag and a DNA⁵ fingerprint⁶ taken from a sample of its leg. This Big Brother scrutiny⁷ revealed the details of cricket relationships, from their courtship time to how they conducted their affairs. 

 

Previous studies of crickets' behavior examined them in a lab setting, where males acted aggressively towards other males and mates alike. In the wild, however, males still brawled⁸ with rivals. But they formed long-term relationships by protecting, not dominating, their partners.

 

So why guard his gal⁹? A gentlemanly cricket fosters a longer relationship, with more mating and more offspring. So chivalry¹⁰ may not be dead—but it's not entirely¹¹ altruistic¹² either.

 

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Sophie Bushwick.

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