Research Works
Byline: Elizabeth Howell
Tall grass and warm air surrounds the Nesbitt Biology Building at Carleton University in late summer, and is accompanied by the background sound of crickets. Locking her mountain bike at the lab door, Sue Bertram pauses to listen. “That’s a Fall Field Cricket. Sounds about the same as a Spring Field, but I know because of the time of year.”
The assistant science dean and associate science professor has listened closely to crickets for about 20 years. Courtesy of funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, she now has a new, electronic way of tracking what the crickets are saying.
A greenhouse-like building just outside Nesbitt holds containers full of crickets. Periodically, Bertram or one of her students will carefully scoop a male cricket out and place him in a small acoustic chamber, hooked up to a computer running special audio software. They can then track the length and the type of call, and begin answering questions about how it changes.
The full article can be found at http://researchworks.carleton.ca/fall-2010/cricket-serenade/