How do insects hear? Loud and clear, with ears that can be in any part of their body—abdomen, wings, mouth and even tongue—adapted to escape predators and for social communication, courtship, and so on.
Coffee locust, Aularches sp. Locusts have ears in their abdomen. ▲
Hawk moth (Deilephila cf elpenor). Hawk moths have ears in their mouth parts. ▲
Tiger moth. It has ears at the junction of its thorax and abdomen. ▲
Field cricket. It has an insect predator deadlier than the bat, the tachinid fly (Ormia ochraceae). ▲
Courtesy: With permission from 'Knowable Magazine from Annual Reviews'. ▲
Flower mantis, Creobroter sp. The tympanal ears of mantids are unique. There is only one ear and as such described as auditory cyclops, or cyclopean ear. ▲
Two ears identified in Creobroter sp.
Photo: Sankararaman. H
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Mosquito antennae are feathery. The receptors are located in their plumes. ▲
Praying mantis, Gongylus gongyloides. ▲
Katydid. The location of the ears in katydid. Katydids and crickets have ears in the tibia of their first pair of legs (area marked). Their ears are simple and bear similarities with the human ear. ▲
Katydids and crickets have ears in the tibia of their first pair of legs (area marked). Their ears are simple and bear similarities with the human ear. ▲
Mole cricket. ▲
Blue bottle fly (Sarcophagidae). Flies belonging to Tachninidae and Sarcophagidae have ears. ▲
Fruit fly. Fruit flies have antennal ears. ▲
Scarab beetle (dynastinae, xylotrupes), female. ▲
Ear in scarab beetles (Holotrichia sp.). The scarabs have their ears in their neck membrane (area marked), present on either side dorsally. ▲
Grasshopper. Grasshoppers have ears in their abdominal segments. ▲
Tiger beetle. Among tiger beetles, only those belonging to the genus Cicindela have ears. ▲
Water boatman. The aquatic bug has ears in the mesothorax, just above the second pair of legs. ▲
Hawk moth (Hippotion sp.). Ear location (area marked) in the head region and on proboscis. Two groups of hawk moths (distantly related), have ears on their labial palps, or proboscis, whose primary function is to sip nectar from flowers. ▲
Hawk moth (Hippotion). Two groups of hawk moths (distantly related), have ears on their labial palps, or proboscis (below), whose primary function is to sip nectar from flowers. ▲
Owlet moth, Erebus ephesperi. The ears are laterally placed at the junction of the thorax and abdomen (areas marked in yellow colour). ▲
Owl moth, Spirama cf helcina. Its ears are laterally placed at the junction of thorax and abdomen (area marked). ▲
Rusty forester, Lethe bhairava species (Moore, 1857). ▲
Scarce red forester (Lethe distans). ▲
Swallotail butterfly, common banded peacock (Papilio crino). Butterflies belonging to Papilionidae (swallowtails) and Nymphalidae (brush-footed) have ears, referred to as alars, at the base of their hindwings. ▲
Swallowtail butterfly, yellow Helen (Papilio nephelus). ▲
Cambrid moth. A number of moths belonging to the Crambidae, Geometridae, and Uraniidae families communicate through ultrasound clicks to find mates. ▲
Geometer moth. ▲
Thyridid moth. ▲
Uraniid moth (Epiplema himala). ▲
Death’s head hawk moth, Acherontia lachesis. It has a tuft of scales in its proboscis that vibrates in response to sound and helps in hearing. ▲
Cuckoo at midnight to feed on moths. ▲
Green lacewing (Ankylopteryx sp.). ▲
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