Antennal-Based Strategies for Sound Localization by Insects

Abstract

Insects rely on their hearing in order to communicate, identify and locate potential mates, and avoid predators. Due to their small sizes, many insect species are not able to utilize the interaural time and intensity differences employed by vertebrates for the localization of sound, but have instead evolved other mechanisms to perform this task. One such mechanism is the antenna, which provides directionally sensitive acoustic information. In the current work, we discuss the physical limitations imposed by the Gabor limit and the nature of acoustic radiation as small length scales. We then propose mechanisms that antennal insects may use in order to localize sound and extract precise frequency information from transient signals, thereby circumventing these physical limitations.