The bright light in the habitat of nocturnal Acheta d. reduced courting behavior in all lit trials. When disorienting their entrained rhythm of night time activity (Nowosielski et al., 2003), the crickets did not adjust well, leading to the decrease in courting behavior from both sexes. Even chirping, the intense method of attracting mates (University of Bristol, 2012), was less prevalent. In contrast, the dark environment simulated natural habitat conditions in Acheta d. and therefore did not impact their behavioral patterns. The results from chirping suggest that light is negatively impacting the behavior in these vocal invertebrates, supported by the knowledge of cricket calls being magnified during the evening when there is no light (Forrest, 1980). This experiment also parallels with the results from previous research involving melatonin production in humans (Gooley et al., 2010). Despite not being mutually exclusive, the differing internal clocks of Acheta d. and humans during the night are both disrupted by artificial light: leading to their physiological and ultimately behavioral changes. The differences in the data collected from the lit and unlit conditions demonstrate biological clocks having an acute sensitivity, and is evident that light lead to decreased frequency of mating behaviors because of its disruption of the circadian rhythm.
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