COCROFT, R. B.: Vibrational communication and the ecology of group-living insects

I will review the role of vibrational communication in group-living, herbivorous insects (not including eusocial insects). Social behavior in these taxa includes parental care of aggregated offspring, as well as grouping among cohorts of immatures or adults. I focus on the ways in which the ecological context favors cooperation or competition within groups, and how these outcomes are mediated by communication among group members. I will highlight studies of two membracid treehoppers with different life histories, in which siblings communicate in relation to important features of the environment. In both species, signaling interactions contain a large element of cooperation. I also survey examples of communication in other group-living herbivorous insects, exploring the possibilities of convergence in signaling systems that function in similar ecological contexts.