Strategies for Acoustic Communication in Complex Environments

Abstract

When performing his pioneering studies on the reactions of moths and other nocturnal insects to hunting bats, Kenneth D. Roeder had to get acquainted with acoustics and especially with ultrasound. He did this very well, but he never became interested in acoustics as a scientific subject. He was much more interested in the behavioural significance of the ultrasonic bat cries. His interests were always centered around the behaving animal in its natural environment, and he was well aware of the limitations of laboratory studies of the behaviour (Roeder 1970). A substantial part of Roeder’s impact on the development of neuroethology was due to his repeated demonstration that, although it is necessary to study many details in the laboratory, studies of behaviour should start and end in the field.