Select your language

The Lexicon of Beetles of the Czech Republic

Lat. Abbr.      All      A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z
sounds caused by the friction of one body part against another, for example, the elytra against the wings (some beetles), the thighs against the venation of the elytra (some locusts)

Insects and other arthropods stridulate by rubbing together two parts of the body. These are referred to generically as the stridulatory organs.

The mechanism is best known in crickets, mole crickets, and grasshoppers, but other insects which stridulate include Curculionidae (weevils and bark beetles), Cerambycidae (longhorned beetles), Mutillidae ("velvet ants"), Reduviidae (assassin bugs), Buprestidae (metallic wood-boring beetles), Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles), Cicindelinae (tiger beetles), Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles), Glaresidae ("enigmatic scarabs"), larval Lucanidae (stag beetles), Passalidae (Bessbugs), Geotrupidae (earth-boring dung beetles), Alydidae (broad-headed bugs), Largidae (bordered plant bugs), Miridae (leaf bugs), Corixidae (water boatmen, notably Micronecta scholtzi), various ants (including the Black imported fire ant, Solenopsis richteri), some stick insects such as Pterinoxylus spinulosus, and some species of Agromyzidae (leaf-mining flies). While cicadas are well-known for sound production via abdominal tymbal organs, it has been demonstrated that some species can produce sounds via stridulation, as well.