Thursday, May 3, 2012

Devices Used For Recording Orthoptera (Singing Insects)

In addition to detecting bats: I occasionally do enjoy detecting, and attempting to identify Orthopetra (various singing insects). I'm going to try to keep this post as brief as possible. I simply want to share the results of tests I've done; using a few different bat detectors, etc.
For those who are also interested in singing insects, there are two books that I can highly recommend:
The first is 'Guide To Night-Singing Insects Of The Northeast' by John Himmelman.
The second, is called 'The Songs Of Insects' by Lang Elliot and Wil Hershberger. They both cover the Orthoptera of the Northeastern United States.
In the US, they may be found just about anywhere books are sold.

For Readers in the UK & Europe who are interested, they may be purchased from NHBS, by clicking on the links below:



The second book, is the one I used for my testing: I used recordings from the (included) audio CD; limiting my focus to the songs of insects that happened to be in the sub-audible range. I suppose they may also be described as "near-ultrasonic". In other words, tracks that I had a bit of trouble hearing with the naked ear. I find the whole subject rather fascinating. Here are the track numbers used, along with the insect names:

#25 Short-Winged Meadow Katydid
#26 Slender Meadow Katydid
#27 Woodland Meadow Katydid
#28 Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid

So, the tests were really simple: Did the device or bat detector used "hear" the recording or not?

---------------------------Below, are the devices - Along with the results-----------------------------------

  Olympus DS-30    ZoomH2     BatBox Baton    Wildlife Acoustics' EM3       BatBox Griffin

#25         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes
#26         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes
#27         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes
#28         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes

Well, that's really about it - I'll gauge the interest in this subject/post, and if it is "popular" then I may do the same test with a couple of other bat detectors, etc.

Happy bat (and bug) detecting!

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