Tethered adult crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer) assume a full flight posture: they point the antennae straight ahead, hold the fore-and midlegs close to the body, stiffen the abdomen for steering and extend the hindlegs directly backwards. Tomioka and Yamaguchi (1980) have reported that about 30% of the animals displaying flight behaviour also flap their hindwings, but the remaining crickets vibrate their wings through a narrow range instead of flapping them. They distinguished the latter type of behaviour from normal flight behaviour and designated it ‘pseudo-flight behaviour’.

Keywords:
cricket, flight muscle, selective degeneration, flight behaviour, Gryllus bimaculatus.
© 1991 by Company of Biologists
1991
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