Drumming Behavior of Six North American Perlidae (Plecoptera) Species1

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Abstract
The previously unreported drumming signals of six species of Perlidae are described, and comparisons of drumming among 12 North American species are made. Claassenia, Hesperoperla, and Paragnetina display two- or three-way signals; the male call is monophasic, and male-female signals consist of 5 to 25 beats (except Paragnetina kansensis females) at moderate to slow intervals of 25 to 120 msec. Almost no overlap of major signal parameters occurs among these genera. Acroneuria species have unique, complex signals; the male call is diphasic, with 31 to 44 and 3 to 9 beats in the first and second phases, respectively. The male call of Calineuria californica has a single, prolonged beat, produced by dragging the hammer on the substrate; this clearly separates it from known Acroneuria signals. P. kansensis females have a very long signal of 495 to 605 beats, spaced at nonvariable intervals of 88 ± 0 msec.