BEHAVIORAL ORIGIN OF TREMULATION, 
AND POSSIBLE STRIDULATION, 
IN GREEN LACEWINGS 
(NEUROPTERA: CHRYSOPIDAE) 1 
By Peter Duelli 2 and James B. Johnson 3 
University of California, Berkeley, 
Division of Biological Control 
1050 San Pablo Ave. 
Albany, CA 94706 USA 
Introduction 
Abdominal vibration or “jerking” in connection with courtship 
behavior has been described for several green lacewing species (e.g. 
Smith 1922; Toschi 1965; Tauber 1969; Sheldon and MacLeod 
1974) and explored in detail by Henry (1979, 1980a, b, c). In 
Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) isolated individuals produce long, 
patterned sequences of discrete short bursts of rhythmic vibration of 
the abdomen in the vertical plane. The wings may also vibrate. 
Sexually receptive pairs establish duets of reciprocal abdominal 
jerking. Actual drumming of the abdomen on the substrate does not 
occur. It had been assumed that abdominal vibration produces 
high-frequency sounds by stridulation (Adams 1962, Riek 1967, 
Eichele and Villiger 1974, Henry 1979) and acoustical communica- 
tion was discussed in connection with the tympanal ultrasound 
receptor organ described by Miller (1970, 1971). Courtship and 
copulation take place on the vegetation, usually on the underside of 
leaves. Henry (1980a, c) in his work with Chrysoperla spp. demon- 
strated that communication is performed via low-frequency sub- 
strate vibration and not by airborne sound. Males were able to 
establish duets with females within a range of 15 cm. According to 
Henry (1980a, b, c), differences in the vibration patterns of Chry- 
1 Published with the approval of the Director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment 
Station as Research Paper No. 81613. 
2 Present address: Zoologisches Institut, Universitat Basel, Rheinsprung 9, 4051 Basel 
Switzerland. 
3 Present address: Department of Entomology, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 
83843 U.S.A. 
Manuscript received by editor December 15, 1981. 
375 
