Crickets Learn to Use Auditory Cue to Solve Cheeseboard Maze

J. Waldron & W. L. Isaac

Georgia College, Psychological Science, Milledgeville, GA

Background
The hearing range of a House cricket (Acheta
domesticus), falls between 2 and 100 kHz. Using small
groups of crickets, we evaluated the preference of pure
tone frequency in two independent studies. Tones ranged
between 100 to 10,000 Hz and no preferences were
observed. We hypothesized crickets could learn to use
pure tones as escape cues in a Grice box. Earbuds were
inserted into each escape chamber located at the end of
the two parallel maze alleys. A tone was presented in the
chamber associated with escape. Extraneous variables
inherent to the maze resulted in inconclusive data, so the
apparatus was changed to a circular cheeseboard maze.
The Apparatus consisted of a plywood top level that was painted
white and that had 6 holes drilled through it revealing a bottom
Apparatus level. The bottom level was painted black and had a single hole
through which the pure tone was presented via earbuds,
indicating escape into the cup beneath the maze. The two levels
comprising the floor resulted in five false holes and one escape
hole. After each trial, the top level was moved to change
position of the escape hole.
The object of the task was for the cricket to associate the
Behavioral presented tone with escape. The tone played was 2,250
Testing
Hz at a volume of 2%.
The experimental group was presented the auditory cue
and the control group experienced no sound. Each cricket
was individually given three daily trials. The amount of
time taken to escape, and the number of errors were
recorded for each trial

Method
Male and female subjects were housed in pairs in
Subjects small cylindrical plastic cricket cages (7 cm
diameter, 11 cm tall). The experimental group
consisted of 7 male and 7 female crickets and the
control group was made up of 2 male and 2
female crickets. Romaine lettuce, red potato, a
gelatin water substitute, and high protein food
were available at all times. The room was on a 12
hr-12 hr reverse light-dark cycle with light onset
at 7:00 p.m. each day.
Results
Looking at errors, a 3-way ANOVA with 2 repeated measures revealed
significantly more errors were committed (F(1,10 ) =
19.22, p= 0.0014) by the control group. There was also an interaction
between Groups and Trials (F(2, 60) = 5.59, p = 0.0118)
Conclusions
These results support the hypothesis that crickets
have the capacity to learn an instrumental task
using auditory cues. We know from previous
research that crickets have the capacity to respond
to auditory stimuli, but now see that auditory cues
can be used within experimental design. This
information will help guide future research
regarding auditory cues and cricket behavior.
References

Author contact: joshua.waldron@bobcats.gcsu.edu

Or walter.Isaac@gcsu.edu
This research was supported by a GCSU Research Grant & the Isaac Research Fund.