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Male fiddler crabs (Genus Uca) employ both visual and acoustical signals to attract females for mating. In U. pugilator and several other American species, the males attract females during the day first by waving, then by producing sounds just within their burrows. At night, the males produce sounds at low rates, but when touched by a female, they increase their rate of sound production.

In the European species, U. tangeri, many elements of courtship are similar to those in U. pugilator, but two types of sounds are produced. One of these, the short drumwhirl, appears to substitute for waving when the male is temporarily obscured from the female during his diurnal courtship activities. The long drumwhirl is used under different circumstances.

The acoustical responses of a male to a female influence the courtship behavior of other males in the area. When sounds from stimulated males are played back to …