DOI: 10.6078/d1qf08
title: The function of the female mimic signal in Enchenopa binotata treehoppers

description: Some animals mimic behaviors or signals of conspecifics while courting.
 Sexual mimicry is beneficial when it increases
 reproductive success. We explored the function of a novel form of
 sexual mimicry in the courtship display
 of male Enchenopa treehoppers. Males produce plant-borne
 vibrational advertisement signals, to which females respond.
 Interestingly, males also produce a female mimic signal, and we
 experimentally tested its function. First, with a female priming
 hypothesis, we tested if this signal would increase female response.
 However, females were as likely to respond to playbacks with or without
 this. Second, with a male inhibition hypothesis, we tested if the mimic
 signal would inhibit competing males. However, males were as likely to
 produce displays after playbacks with or without the mimic signal. Third,
 with a self-boost hypothesis, we tested if males performing the mimic
 signal would show higher signaling effort. Males that produced the mimic
 signal had higher signal rates and longer signals than males that did not
 produce it. We suggest that the mimic signal provides the males with
 positive motivational feedback. Consequently, the evolution of sexual
 mimicry –and signal repertoires– may be influenced by the effects on the
 sender itself, besides the effects on the audience.
description: We used laser vibrometry to record the signaling displays of male
 treehoppers and the responses of females to artificial playbacks
 transmitted through the plant. 
description: # The function of the female mimic signal in Enchenopa binotata
 treehoppers ## Description of the
 data and file structure FILE: Female female-like_signal function OVERALL
 DESCRIPTION: This file contains the data for the experimental test of the
 female-like signal in Enchenopa binotata treehoppers. Both males and
 females were presented with different stimuli (treatments) and we noted if
 they responded -and how- to stimuli of variable composition (some
 contained the female signal, not did not, etc.). COLUMN EXPLANATION *
 Recording_individual_ID: A unique identification code for each individual
 * species: The species of each treehopper in the Enchenopa binotata
 complex. Individuals were either from the 'sp-low' or
 'sp-high' * sex: Whether the individual was a mature male or
 female * field.site: A three-letter code for the field site in which
 animals were collected, in South Eastern Wisconsin, USA. * year: The year
 in which the individual was collected and recorded * temperature: The air
 temperature recorded at the end of each recording, in Celsius * treatment:
 The playback treatment presented to each individual (combining all female
 recordings as only one category) * expanded_treatment: The playback
 treatment presented to each individual, expanding on the type of female
 recording (1,2,3, or 4) * Responded_to_female-like_signal_on_playback:
 Whether the individual responded to the female female-like_signal signal
 on the playback or not (yes, no). All rows of males prior to 2021 have
 'NA' as no playback experiment was presented to them *
 Response_to_female-like_signal_binary: Same as the previous variable, but
 using 0 for no, and 1 for yes. All rows of males prior to 2021 have
 'NA' as no playback experiment was presented to them *
 Numb_responses_after_female-like_signal: The number of times the female
 responded to the stimulus and the three main advertisement signals in the
 playback bout. All male rows have 'NA' * Total_time_responding:
 The total time the female spent responding to the signals in the playback
 bout, in seconds. All male rows have 'NA' *
 mean_time_responding: The mean time the female spent responding to the
 signals in the playback bout, in seconds. All male rows have
 'NA' * female-like_signal_performed: Whether the male performed
 the female female-like_signal signal or not. All female rows have
 'NA' * signalled_after_playback: Whether the male did a
 signaling bout after the playback was presented. All the rows of females
 and males previous to 2021 have 'NA' * jumped_after_playback:
 Whether the male jumped off the plant after the playback was presented.
 All the rows of females and males previous to 2021 have 'NA' *
 wingbuzz_after_playback: Whether the male performed a wing buzz after the
 playback was presented. All the rows of females and males previous to 2021
 have 'NA' * whine_length_s: Duration, in seconds, of the whine
 element of the fourth main advertisement signal of males. All female rows
 have 'NA' * dominant_frequency: The dominant frequency of the
 signal, measured as the duration of 9 cycles at the end of the whine. All
 female rows have 'NA' * signal_rate: The inverse of the duration
 between signals, specifically between the end of the third and the end of
 the fourth advertisement signal in the bout. All female rows have
 'NA' FILE: Male_spontaneous_signaling_displays.csv OVERALL
 DESCRIPTION: This file contains qualitative information of the spectral
 and temporal features of the signaling display of males of Enchenopa
 binotata treehoppers. These are the spontaneous signaling displays, i.e.,
 these males were not presented with artifical playback stimuli. The file
 also contains the morphological information measured in a subset of males.
 COLUMN EXPLANATION * Recording_ID: A unique identification code for each
 recording * species: The species of each treehopper in the Enchenopa
 binotata complex. Individuals were either from the 'sp-low' or
 'sp-high' * individual_ID: A unique identification code for each
 individual * date: The date when the recording occurred * time: The time
 of the day when the recording occurred * site: A three-letter code for the
 field site in which animals were collected, in South Eastern Wisconsin,
 USA. * year: The year in which the individual was collected and recorded *
 temperature_C: The air temperature recorded at the end of each recording,
 in Celsius * weight_mg: The weight in mg of the animal, immediately after
 the recording * Body_length_mm: The length of the treehopper in lateral
 view, measured as the distance from the the dorsal tip of the pronotum to
 the distal end of the abdomen * Face_length_mm: The length of the anterior
 side of the treehopper in laterial view, form the tip of the pronotum to
 the ventral end of the rostrum * Leg_III_femur_mm: the length of the femur
 of the tibia of leg III * Width_II_tibia_mm: The width of the tibia of leg
 II * Wing_length_mm: The length of the major vein of the wing in lateral
 view * Condition_Residuals_wing_weight: The residuals of a regression of
 the body weight on body size (wing length) *
 female-like_signal_signal_performed: Whether the male performed the female
 female-like_signal signal or not. All female rows have 'NA' *
 binary_female-like_signal_performed: Binary indications of whether the
 male performed the female female-like_signal signal or not (0=no, 1=yes).
 All female rows have 'NA' * whine.duration: Duration, in
 seconds, of the whine element of the fourth main advertisement signal of
 males. All female rows have 'NA' * signal.rate: The inverse of
 the duration between signals, specifically between the end of the third
 and the end of the fourth advertisement signal in the bout. All female
 rows have 'NA' * dominant.frequency: The dominant frequency of
 the signal, measured as the duration of 9 cycles at the end of the whine.
 All female rows have 'NA' FILE: Repeatability OVERALL
 DESCRIPTION: This file contains the information for the subset of males
 for which we recorded their signaling display (bout) twice. In the bouts
 we noted if males performed the female-like signal. COLUMN EXPLANATION *
 indivdual: A unique identification code for each individual * bout:
 Whether the recording was the first or second bout recorded of the same
 individual * time_between_bouts: The time interval between the two
 recorded bouts * bouts_same_day: Whether the bouts were recorded on the
 same day (yes, no) * species: The species of each treehopper in the
 Enchenopa binotata complex. Individuals were either from the
 'sp-low' or 'sp-high' * female-like_signal_performed:
 Whether the male performed the female female-like_signal signal or not.
 All female rows have 'NA' * phenotypic_consistency: The
 consistency of males in their signaling display. Males could be consistent
 in not producing the female-like signal in the two bouts recorded, or they
 could performed it in both, or be inconsistent and perform the
 female-like_signal signal in one bout and not perform it in the other bout
 * site: A three-letter code for the field site in which animals were
 collected, in South Eastern Wisconsin, USA. * year: The year in which the
 individual was collected and recorded * date: The date when the recording
 occurred * time: The time of the day when the recording occurred *
 signal.rate: The inverse of the duration between signals, specifically
 between the end of the third and the end of the fourth advertisement
 signal in the bout. All female rows have 'NA' *
 whine.duration_s: Duration, in seconds, of the whine element of the fourth
 main advertisement signal of males. All female rows have 'NA'
 FILE: Picture files.zip This compressed folder contains all the pictures
 of male treehoppers we took under the stereoscope. We used these pictures
 to measure the body size of the males, and subsequently calculate the body
 condition for males. Those measures are reported in the file
 Male_spontaneous_signaling_displays.csv FILE: Audio files.zip This
 compressed file contain two types of audio recordings. I. Playbacks: The
 artifical playback stimuli we created in R. We used these playbacks to
 test the function of the female-like signal produced by males of species
 of Enchenopa binotata treehoppers. The plyabacks are species-specific.
 Hence they are organized in folders of the two species tested (HF and LF,
 also referred as Sp-low and Sp-high in the manuscript) II. Recordings: The
 sound recordings of the experiment testing the function of the female-like
 signal. The recordings are sorted by species and then by sex. All
 individuals were presented with one stimulus, which is noted towards the
 end of the file name. The four-digit code at the end of the file name
 represents the recording ID which can also be found -and matched- with the
 spreadsheets. The folder contains a subsample of ~25% of all the
 recordings obtained for the experiments, and ~15% of the spontaneous
 signaling displays of males. The rest of the recordings are available upon
 contacting the authors, as the recordings are part of ongoing unpublished
 projects in the research groups.