Abstract
Female sagebrush crickets, Cyphoderris strepitans, feed on the male's hind wings during copulation. Because removal of hind wing material during mating may alter male acoustic signal characteristics and account for a virgin male mating advantage (Morris et al. 1989; Snedden, in press) we recorded virgin and mated males in the field, and virgins before and after surgical excision of a portion of the hind wings. We found no significant differences in signal spectral characteristics or pulse rate between virgin and mated males following hindÂwing excision. However, the signal amplitude of laboratory recorded virgins was greater than that of mated males, and song amplitude was reduced in manipulated males. In contrast, signal amplitude was lower in field recorded virgins than mated males.