Gerlind U C Lehmann

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | HU Berlin · Department of Biology

Rapid divergence in external genital structures occurs in nearly all animal groups that practice internal insemination; explaining this pattern is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. The hypothesis that species‐specific differences in male genitalia evolved under sexual selection as courtship devices to influence cryptic female choice (CFC),...

In most species with internal fertilization, male genitalia evolve faster than other morphological structures. This holds true for genital titillators, which are used exclusively during mating in several bushcricket subfamilies. Several theories have been proposed for the sexual selection forces driving the evolution of internal genitalia, especial...

Insect declines and biodiversity loss have attracted much attention in recent years, but lack of comprehensive data, conflicting interests among stakeholders and insufficient policy guidance hinder progress in preserving biodiversity. The project DINA (Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas) investigates insect communities in 21 nature rese...

National and local governments need to step up efforts to effectively implement the post‐2020 global biodiversity framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity to halt and reverse worsening biodiversity trends. Drawing on recent advances in interdisciplinary biodiversity science, we propose a framework for improved implementation by national...

In Germany, the decline of insect biomass was observed in nature conservation areas in agricultural landscapes. One of the main causal factors discussed is the use of synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture. In a Germany-wide field study, we collected flying insects using Malaise traps in nature conservation areas adjacent to agricultural...

The decline of insect abundance and richness has been documented for decades and has received increased attention in recent years. In 2017, a study by Hallmann and colleagues on insect biomasses in German nature protected areas received a great deal of attention and provided the impetus for the creation of the project Diversity of Insects in Nature...

Five years after the well-known study on insect biomass decline in nature protected habitats in Germany over three decades, the project DINA (Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas) has investigated the status of insects in 21 selected nature reserves across Germany in the years 2020 and 2021. We used the same methods and protocols for trap...

A simple acetonitrile-based extraction method for the determination of 98 current-use pesticides (CUPs) in soil and herbaceous vegetation using HPLC-ESI-MS/MS is reported. The method was optimized in terms of extraction time, buffer (ammonium formate) ratio, and graphitized carbon black (GCB) ratio for the clean-up of vegetation. The validated meth...

Nature reserves are one of the most important instruments for biodiversity protection and to limit regional species extinctions. However, these functions can only be fulfilled if environmental influences from the surroundings , such as agrochemical inputs do not negatively affect the protected habitats. Here, we compare the effectiveness of conserv...

In most species with internal fertilization, male genitalia evolve faster than other morphological structures. This holds true for genital titillators, which are used exclusively during mating in several bushcricket subfamilies. Several theories have been proposed for the sexual selection forces driving the evolution of internal genitalia, especial...

In recent years, the decline of insect biodiversity and the imminent loss of provided ecosystem functions and services has received public attention and raised the demand for political action. The complex, multi-causal contributors to insect decline require a broad interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach that addresses ecological and social a...

Citizen Science (CS) is a research approach that has become popular in recent years and offers innovative potential for dialect research in ornithology. As the scepticism about CS data is still widespread, we analysed the development of a 3-year CS project based on the song of the Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) to share best practices a...

The worldwide rapid declines in insect and plant abundance and diversity that have occurred in the past decades have gained public attention and demand for political actions to counteract these declines are growing. Rapid large-scale biomonitoring can aid in observing these changes and provide information for decisions for land management and speci...

Im Kontext des Insektenrückgangs und landwirtschaftlicher Nutzung als einem bedeutenden Verursacher kommt Naturschutzgebieten und den FFH-Gebieten des europäischen Natura-2000-Netzes eine wach- sende Bedeutung zum Erhalt der lokalen Biodiversität zu, die sich auch auf Ackerbiotope bezieht. Eine Raumanalyse im Rahmen des Forschungs- projektes DINA (...

Open science approaches enable and facilitate the investigation of many scientific questions in bioacoustics, such as studies on the temporal and spatial evolution of song, as in vocal dialects. In contrast to previous dialect studies, which mostly focused on songbird species with a small repertoire, here we studied the common nightingale (Luscinia...

The declines observed in insect abundance and diversity in the past decades has also been observed in plants, and these events are most certainly correlated. Rapid largescale biomonitoring of both plants and insects can help monitor these changes and inform decisions for land management and species protection. Malaise traps have been used for nearl...

[DE] Die systematische Erfassung und Analyse von Biodiversitätsdaten und Ökosystemleistungen ist unerlässlich. Sie trägt zum Verständnis von Ursachen des Biodiversitätsverlusts bei und wird zur Analyse von Trends sowie zur Evaluierung von Interventionsmaßnahmen und politischen Strategien benötigt. Ehrenamtliche Datenerhebungen und wissenschaft- lic...

Today, integrative taxonomy is often considered the gold standard when it comes to species recognition and delimitation. Using the Tetrix bipunctata complex, we here present a case where even integrative tax-onomy may reach its limits. The Tetrix bipunctata complex consists of two morphs, bipunctata and kraussi, which are easily distinguished by a...

We adopt an allometric framework of scaling relationships for comparison between mating-related traits in the middle European bushcricket Roeseliana roeselii (Hagenbach, 1822). Eight characters, covering ontogenetic fitness (size traits; fixed at final moult), male condition (mass traits) and mating motivation (reproductive behaviours), were analys...

In acoustically communicating bushcrickets (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), most signal properties are influenced by the dimensions of the stridulatory apparatus, which in turn reflects body size and condition of the signaller. Females can assess male quality based on acoustic signals, suggesting that male stridulatory structures may be under sexual se...

In many species, males produce sounds to attract a female. In a chorus, males actively adjust their acoustic production depending on the presence and number of mating rivals. Plasticity in signal features might then be advantageous as males could tune their signalling activity to the contest intensity. However, the ability to exhibit plastic behavi...

Insects follow other organisms in their strong biodiversity crisis. Along with the long-observed species-loss recent studies provide evidence for a dramatic reduction in insect biomass in Germany (Hallmann et al. 2017 PLOSone). The alarming data have elicited broad media cover and forced politics to request more conclusive studies. Our project DINA...

In sexual reproduction, the search for mating partners elevates the individual's risks of predation and parasitism. One way to increase mate search effectiveness and reduce search costs is acoustic signaling. However, acoustic orienting parasitoid flies exploit singing hosts, leading to high parasitism rates. Aggregations of males and females at ma...

In sexual reproduction, the search for mating partners elevates the individual’s risks of predation and parasitism. One way to increase mate search effectiveness and reduce search costs is acoustic signaling. However, acoustic orienting parasitoid flies exploit singing hosts, leading to high parasitism rates. Aggregations of males and females at ma...

Males of the bushcricket Metrioptera roeselii bear paired titillators that are spiny genital structures supposedly functioning as copulatory courtship devices. During copulation, the male inserts its titillators into the female's genital chamber, where they rhythmically tap on the sensilla-covered dorsal surface of the genital fold. Here, we invest...

Males of several animals, including insects, use acoustic signals to attract a sexually receptive conspecific partner. In the orthopteran chorusing genus Poecilimon (Tettigoniidae), male signalling as well as female preference can be related to male body condition and to the social environment. Song is thought to be an honest signal of male quality...

1. Functional wing polymorphism in insects is an intriguing topic, especially with respect to the adaptive advantage of each wing morph. The common pygmy grasshopper in Germany, Tetrix subulata, displays wing polymorphism skewed towards macropterous (LW) individuals capable of flight. Furthermore, T. subulata is known to undergo adult diapause in w...

The data in the Table 1 of the original version of this article were inadvertently shifted during the editing process. Therefore the entries as published in this table did not correspond to their correct data.

The possession of wings and ability to fly are a unifying character of higher insects, but secondary loss of wings is widespread. Within the bushcrickets, the subfamily Phaneropterinae (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea) comprises more than 2000 predominantly long-winged species in the tropics. However, the roughly 300 European representatives are mainly...

In bushcrickets, sexual selection is related to sound and songs are honest signals. The same acoustic cues can be used to identify singing abilities of neighbors and quality of mating partners by competing males and choosing females.

The males of some bushcricket species have sclerotized genitalia, which are moved rhythmically during copulations. These spiny “titillators” vary greatly in their shape depending on the species, suggesting that they are under sexual selection. Bushcricket titillators were thought to function as stimulators for the females or to be used as anchors,...

Many insects use acoustic signals to attract mates. During song contests, the asymmetry between rivals presenting different quality or different resource holding potential (RHP) may determine who will be the winner. An individual can decide to persist or give up the fight, using signals to assess the RHP of his opponent in comparison to its own. In...

Animal genitalia are diverse and a growing body of evidence suggests that they evolve rapidly under post-copulatory sexual selection. This process is predicted to be more intense in polyandrous species, although there have been very few comparative studies of the relationship between the complexity of genital structures in males and measures of the...

Nuptial gifts are male mating investments, which, in bushcrickets, comprise the sperm-containing ampulla and the attached spermatophylax. The functions of the spermatophylax are to deter females from premature removal of the sperm-containing ampulla, which is a nutrient resource for females, as well as a source of compounds that influence female be...

The males of some bushcricket species have spiny "titillators", which are moved rhythmically during copulations. These genital appendices are species specific, suggesting that they are under sexual selection. So far, the titillators were thought to stimulate the females or to be used as anchors, to hold on the females during copulations. However, t...

In a recently published paper on colour polymorphism in a Pygmy grasshopper from China (Zhao et al 2016) an unidentified Paratettix sp. was misidentified as Tetrix bolivari. This case highlights the need for correct species identification and provides an opportunity to recommend some aspects of Good Taxonomic Practice (GTP) in Tetrigidae to reduce...

Male genital organs are among the fastest evolving morphological structures. However, large parts of the male’s genitalia are often hidden inside the female during mating. In several bushcricket species, males bear a pair of sclerotized genital appendices called titillators. By employing synchrotron-based in vivo X-ray cineradiography on mating...

We present a DNA barcoding study on the insect order Orthoptera that was generated in collaboration between four barcoding projects in three countries, viz. Barcoding Fauna Bavarica (Germany), German Barcode of Life, Austrian Barcode of Life, and Swiss Barcode of Life. Our dataset includes 748 COI sequences from 127 of the 162 taxa (78.4%) recorded...

The majority of bushcricket species (Insecta: Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) use acoustic signals for mate attraction. Song production and the sound-producing structures, therefore, can be argued to be under sexual selection. The sound-producing structures might determine differences in the acoustic parameters of male songs, like the fundamental freque...

It is believed that animal genitalia evolve rapidly under sexual selection. Males develop sclerotised copulatory organs in various bushcricket families. Across species these titillators exhibit a great variability like seen in other genital structures. Additional mating traits like refractory period and polyandry are also very different in bushcric...

Body size in many species indicates male’s quality. In bushcrickets the sound generating apparatuses and thereby the acoustic signals emitted may be influenced by body size. In Poecilimon ampliatus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), the calls are produced only by males, which rub together the forewing structures scraper and teeth. The body mass of the si...

Our result cannot support the hypothesis of postcopulatory sexual selection being a driver for male bushcricket genitalia evolution.

Bushcricket titillators have diverse functions depending on the species, they could stimulate females to suppress female resistance and assure proper spermatophore attachment; in one species they have an anchoring function.

Introduction Animal genitalia are believed to evolve rapidly under sexual selection. In some bushcricket families, males possess sclerotised copulatory organs. Like other genitalic structures, these bushcricket titillators show considerable variation across species. Bushcrickets also vary widely in mating traits like polyandry and refractory period...

Providing nutritional gifts to females during mating is common in several insect species. Although nuptial gifts are well known in the bushcrickets, the specific way in which females use spermatophore material is unclear. In previous research, we found that a portion of the spermatophore is used for body homeostasis in the hours following mating. O...

In most bushcricket species, the male transfers a nuptial gift to the female during mating, consisting of a gelatinous spermatophylax attached to the paired ampulla with the sperm. The spermatophylax acts as a sperm protection device; during its consumption, the sperm are transferred into the female’s spermatheca. Males of the bushcricket Letana in...

Lehmann, A.W. Klatt, R., Landeck, I., Machatzi, B., Hennigs, S., Brauner, O., Oldorff, S. & Lehmann, G.U.C. (2016): Fokusarten für die Erfassung zur Gefährdungsanalyse der Heuschrecken (Orthoptera) in Brandenburg und Berlin. Articulata 31: 23-44.

Differential investment of the sexes into mating and reproduction leads to unbalanced costs and benefits in bushcrickets (Lehmann 2012). In many species nuptial gifts are transferred during courtship and mating. Nuptial gifts are materials provided by a donor to a recipient during courtship or copulation in order to improve donor fitness (Lewis et...

In many Ensiferan species spermatophores as nuptial gifts are transferred to female bushcrickets during mating. The spermatophore consists of a nutritious spermatophylax and paired ampulla, containing the sperm. The spermatophylax acts as a sperm protection device, while the female consumes it, sperm wander into the female’s spermatheca. Additional...

Males of certain bushcrickets (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Tettigoniidae) possess sclerotized internal genital devices termed titillators. These titillators are paired chitinized structures for which the function remains to be completely determined. We studied the role of the titillators during copulation in the bushcricket Metrioptera roeselii (Hagenbac...

Genitalia are rapidly evolving morphological structures most likely under sexual selection. Due to their internal nature they are often hidden inside the body, thus morpho-functional studies of animal genitalia are broadly lacking. Males of some bushcricket taxa bear paired genital appendices called titillators, the exact function of which is unkno...

Dimorphism in wing length is well known in many insect species. In those species a trade-off exists between dispersal capability and reproduction, with the long-winged (LW) morph being a better disperser due to superior flight capability. The short-winged (SW) morph is less mobile and it is hypothesised that females of this morph can invest more en...

Two taxa of parasitoid Diptera have independently evolved tympanal hearing organs to locate sound producing host insects. Here we review and compare functional adaptations in both groups of parasitoids, Ormiini and Emblemasomatini. Tympanal organs in both groups originate from a common precursor organ and are somewhat similar in morphology and phys...