Distribution of sound pressure around a singing cricket: radiation pattern and asymmetry in the sound field

During stridulation, specialized areas of membrane on both wings are set into oscillating vibrations to produce acoustic radiation. The location of females is unknown to the calling males and thus increasing effective signal range in all directions will maximize transmission effectiveness.

However, producing an omnidirectional sound field of high sound pressure levels may be problematic due to the mechanical asymmetry found in this sound generation system. Mechanical asymmetry occurs by the right wing coming to partially cover the left wing during the closing stroke phase of stridulation. As such, it is hypothesized that the sound field on the left-wing side of the animal will contain lower sound pressure components than on the right-wing side as a result of this coverage.