Calls of Recently Introduced Coqui Frogs Do Not Interfere with Cricket Phonotaxis in Hawaii

Acoustically-signaling animals such as crickets may experience interference from environmental noise, a particular concern given the rise in anthropogenic or other novel sources of sound. We examined the potential for acoustic interference of female phonotaxis to calling song in the Pacific field cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus) by invasive coqui frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) in Hawaii. The frogs were introduced to Hawaii from Puerto Rico in the 1980s. When female crickets were exposed to male calling songs with and without simultaneous broadcast of a coqui chorus, they were equally likely to move toward the cricket song, regardless of the location of the frog sound (ground level or above ground). Unlike some species of frogs and birds, T. oceanicus do not appear to experience acoustic interference from an introduced signaler, even though the introduced species' calls subjectively seem to be masking the crickets' songs.