Caterpillar twitches in an ultraquiet chamber are helping biologists understand how these insects hear without ears
Scientists give caterpillars haircuts and put them in a room isolated from sound to figure out how they’re able to hear without ears.
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York are studying how tobacco hornworm caterpillars can sense danger, such as approaching wasps, using tiny, supersensitive hairs on their bodies. These caterpillars, which don't have ears like most animals, may be "hearing" airborne sounds in a way that's different from how humans and many other animals detect sound.
To understand this phenomenon, scientists exposed caterpillars to vibrations in an anechoic chamber, a room designed to block out external noise. In these quiet conditions, caterpillars responded to vibrations by twitching or jumping, but only when the vibrations exceeded a certain threshold. When the scientists switched to airborne sound as the stimulus, they found the caterpillars continued to react, even when the vibrations were below their reaction threshold.
This suggests the caterpillars are hearing the airborne sound, not just its vibrations. The researchers believe the caterpillars may be using specialized hairs on their bodies to detect these airborne sounds. If these hairs work like biological microphones, they could potentially be used to design new types of microphones that can detect both sound pressure and air particle velocity. This could lead to improved microphone technology, including those designed for hearing aids.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
