Temporal pattern as a cue for species-specific calling song recognition in crickets.

Female crickets can recognize conspecific calling song from its temporal pattern alone. In Teleogryllus oceanicus, the song pattern consists of three classes of interpulse intervals arranged in a stereotyped sequence. Females recognize a model song in which the sequential order of intervals is random. This argues against the hypothesis that recognition results from matching auditory input to an internal template of the song.