insect communication

[StuartDH]

What different types of insect communication are there? How do the various different types of insects around the world communicate with each other?

[Imaginos]

Telephone!

There are three major methods of communication: Audible (singing of crickets, cicadas etc.) Visual (wing waving in Tephritid flies, warning colouration of toxic insects, honeybee waggle-dances etc.) and Olfactory (pheremones and the like).
Although we humans are aware of the first two, the third is probably the most important to insects-the reason for the feathery antennae of many species (such as moths) is to better pick up the scent of the female, ants and bees are 'controlled' by the queen using pheremones-and communicate amongst themselves too (when a bee stings it also lets off a pheremone that says 'attack here' to other bees for example), there are many other examples too.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi all,

maybe you should include tactile communication too, especially in mating rituals touching with legs or antenna can play a role too. Of course this may, in part, classify as olfactory ("smelling" the 2nd party with the antennae), but the touching itself should not be under estimated me thinks.

Cheers!
Arp