Active Auditory Mechanics in Insects

Evidence is presented that hearing in some insects is an active process. Audition in mosquitoes is used for mate-detection and is supported by antennal receivers, whose sound-induced vibrations are transduced by Johnston's organs. Each of these sensory organs contains ca. 15,000 sensory neurons. As shown by mechanical analysis, a physiologically vulnerable mechanism is at work that nonlinearly enhances the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of antennal hearing. This process of amplification correlates with the electrical activity of the auditory mechanoreceptor units in Johnston's organ.