Litinsects

Litinsects #5: How do grasshoppers hear? Can grasshoppers hear? Yes! As a matter of fact, any animal that uses acoustic signals to communicate must have organs to pick up these signals, otherwise what’s the point? Animals may use sound to detect predators, localize prey, and/or find mates, which is the case in grasshoppers as well. But their ears 👂 are very different than the ones sticking out from the side of your own head right now... 🦗 Grasshoppers and some other kinds of insects hear using a TYMPANUM (or tympanal organ) which is basically a structure like the human eardrum. Real quick, the basics: Sound is made by waves that cause the surrounding molecules (usually air but it could also be another medium) to vibrate. Hearing is the perception of sound through the detection of these vibrations. Thus, in order to hear, some sort of auditory organ must detect vibrations in the surrounding medium and change them to nerve impulses that can be sent to ...