Cave creatures found in the Amazon are unable to make sounds.See “unique” new species

Whether it’s in an awkward silence or a quiet summer night, there’s one animal that fills the void with noise: the cricket.

This loud insect rubs its body parts together to produce its well-known chirping sound.

Yet, in a cave deep in the Amazon rainforest, a species of cricket dances silently around in the darkness.

This surprisingly cautious cricket is called Zebragyllus aphonus and was recently discovered as a new species Cana dos Carajs, in the north Brazil, according to a study published April 24 in the European Journal of Taxonomy.

Research shows that the dark brown insect has small stripes on its body and legs, confirming its place in the genus Zebra, named for the zebra pattern found on the species.

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Before this discovery, all known zebrafish species had vocalizers on the hind wings of male zebras, the researchers said.

According to Advances in Insect Physiology, a chirper is a series of ridges on a cricket’s wings that rub together to produce sound. They play a vital role in the reproductive behavior of crickets.

But when the researchers examined the species found in the cave more closely, they found that it lacked these ridges, meaning the crickets were unable to make sounds, according to the study.

The researchers say this unique feature matches a lack of development of the eardrum, or lining of the ear.

Researchers say both features may be adaptations to the caves where they were found.

Silent crickets have been found both in leaf litter and in burrows, suggesting the researchers have discovered adaptive action.

Studies have shown that crickets feed in leaves at night and then remain in burrows during the day, giving researchers two possible reasons for their silent lifestyle.

According to the study, various animals undergo physical changes after entering cave life, so the lack of vocal ridges and hearing may be a complete adaptation for life in caves for some crickets.

Alternatively, according to the study, the cricket may be transitioning from a life spent primarily outdoors to a life protected by rocky caves, meaning this adaptation is the beginning of the species’ morphological changes until it lives entirely in caves.

Whether deep in a cave or compressed by leaf litter and soil, the environment is dense, making it harder for sound to travel from one cricket to another.

However, we still lack sufficient evidence, and researchers say the caves where the species is found are not widely explored and are often less than 10 meters long. Therefore, only evolutionary studies and descriptions of unknown species within this genus can better understand these findings and test some of these hypotheses.

The researchers also describe the second newly discovered species in the study, Zebragyllus mebengokre, which has a vocal ridge and auditory membrane.

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