| Short name | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| analysis | Analysis | |
| callType | Type of Call | |
| components | Call Components | |
| ecoint | Ecological Interaction | |
| hearing | Hearing Organ | |
| hol | Hearing Organ Location | |
| maleres | Male response to male Calling Song | |
| medium | Medium | |
| mlm | Mate location method | |
| recordingDevice | Recording Device | |
| sensingDevice | Sensing device | |
| spm | Sound Production Method |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/AlternateMateAttractionMethod
en
Often acosutic signalling is combined with other signalling methods, such as 'Visual'.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Amplitude
en
Unit: dB
While the concept of call amplitude is easily understood, it can be measured in a wide variety of ways. The distance from the subject is of clear importance. The property ’Amplitude’ has been included in the ontology, however, it is hoped that more specific sub-properties can be agreed upon in the future. These should include a standardised unit of measure and distance from the subject.
Reference: [1] Baker E, Chesmore D (2020) Standardisation of bioacoustic terminology for insects. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e54222. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e54222
| AmplitudeWithBaffle | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/AmplitudeWithBaffle
en
A baffle may be used to amplify the song
| Amplitude | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/analysisVersion
The version of analysis. In the case of R functions this could be the version of the package containing the function.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/BaffleMaterial
en
Some tree crickets of the genus Oecanthus use baffles made of leaves to amplify their sound (Mhatre 2018).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Bandwidth
en
The bandwidth is usually defined as the range of frequencies around the peak frequency with an amplitude greater than half (-3dB) of the peak frequency.
| Frequency | en |
| Bandwidth-10dB | en | ||
| Q-factor | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Bandwidth-10dB
en
-10dB bandwidth
| Bandwidth | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CallingHeight
en
Many insects call from a specific height within the environment.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CallParticipants
en
One of 'Male', 'Female', 'MaleAndFemale'.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CallStructure
en
Highest unit of call structure, e.g. 'Syllable' or 'Echeme Sequence'.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CallType
en
This term is used to specify a type of call or song, recommended practise is to use the controlled vocabulary presented here.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CentreFrequency
en
This is the middle point of the bandwidth.
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CrepitationDuration
en
The duration of one crepitation sound.
| Crepitation Duration Display | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CrepitationDurationDisplay
en
| Crepitation Duration | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CrepitationInterval
en
The time between individual crepitation sounds.
| Crepitation Interval Display | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CrepitationIntervalDisplay
en
| Crepitation Interval | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CrepitationIsFaculative
en
'True' or 'False'. In some species, crepitation is controlled and only used in crepitation displays; in others it is uncontrolled and occurs during any flight (Ragge and Reynolds 1998).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/CrepitationRate
en
The number of crepitation sounds made per second (Hz).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/DominantHarmonic
en
The harmonic with the largest amplitude (1st, 2nd, etc.)
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/DutyCycle
en
The duty cycle is the percentage of a cycle for which a signal is present. When the song has a higher-order structure (e.g. echemes), there will be multiple duty cycles (e.g. for syllables within an echeme and for the entire song).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/FemaleResponseDelay
en
Some species have a very narrow window in which the female must reply to maintain phonotaxis, notably the common European species Leptophyes punctatissima has a response window of only 20-50ms (Robinson and Hall 2002). Similar female responses that are dependant on signal timing are found in some cicada species (Marshall and Cooley 2001). The data property female response window can be used to store this data, although there are few studies in the literature.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/FirstHarmonicAttenuation
en
The difference in amplitude between the fundamental and first harmonic amplitude (dB).
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/FirstHarmonicFrequency
en
The frequency of the first harmonic, in kHz.
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Frequency
en
In published works, the method of calculating the frequency or frequency range is not always given. The sub-properties of this property allow for precise definitions to be attributed where possible.
Reference: [1] Baker E, Chesmore D (2020) Standardisation of bioacoustic terminology for insects. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e54222. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e54222
| Bandwidth | en | ||
| Centre Frequency | en | ||
| Dominant Harmonic | en | ||
| First Harmonic Attenuation | en | ||
| First Harmonic Frequency | en | ||
| FundamentalFrequency | en | ||
| Peak Frequency | en | ||
| Second Harmonic Attenuation | en | ||
| Second Harmonic Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/HearingFrequency
en
The frequency range in kHz that the insect hears.
| Hearing Peak Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/HearingOrgan
en
A proposed controlled vocabularly is provided at https://vocab.audioblast.org/cv/hearing.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/HearingOrganLocation
en
A proposed controlled vocabularly is provided at https://vocab.audioblast.org/cv/hol
https://vocab.audioblast.org/HearingPeakFrequency
en
The frequency (in KHz) at which the hearing is most sensitive.
| Hearing Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/MinimumCallingTemperature
en
Many species will not produce a calling song below a particular temperature (e.g. Ephippiger ephippiger will not stridulate below 15-17oC (Stiedl and Bickmeyer 1991).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/PeakFrequency
en
This is the frequency with the highest amplitude. It is often the same as the fundamental frequency in resonant songs, however, the resonators may make one of the harmonics have a greater amplitude than the fundamental.
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/PercussionImpactRate
en
The number of percussive impacts per second (Hz).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Qfactor
en
The Q-factor (quality factor) is the ratio of the resonant frequency of a system to the bandwidth at which the power is over half of the maximum (-3dB). Other methods of calculating Q exist (Bennet-Clark 1999). In the case of cricket wings, these have shown to be similar (Nocke 1971).
| Bandwidth | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Resonator
en
Resonators are often used to tune and amplify the songs of insects. Multiple resonators may be used, such as the 'harp' and 'mirror' in crickets.
| Primary Resonator | en | ||
| Secondary Resonator | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/SecondHarmonicAttenuation
en
The difference in amplitude between the fundamental and second harmonic amplitude (dB).
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/SecondHarmonicFrequency
en
The frequency of the second harmonic, in kHz.
| Frequency | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/SoundPropagationDistance
en
The literature contains many references to the distance at which insect sound remains perceptible to the human ear. While this information is of considerable use to the field naturalist, for rigorous acoustic analysis it is recommended that more precise definitions are defined in future.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/SoundPropagationMedium
en
The medium through which the sound propagates. A controlled vocabulary is provided (https://vocab.audioblast.org/cv/medium) with values 'air', 'freshwater' and 'substrate'. This vocabulary is open to expansion, particularly in more precise terms for varying substrates.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/StridulationInFlight
en
The bush crickets Oxyecous lesnei and Debrona cervina are able to stridulate in flight (Naskrecki and Guta 2019). Recommended values are 'Present', 'Absent'.
https://vocab.audioblast.org/StridulatoryFileImpactsPerSyllable
en
https://vocab.audioblast.org/SyllableDurationIsolatedSyllable
en
https://vocab.audioblast.org/SyllableGapNumber
en
Identifying the number of silent periods, or gaps, within a syllable can be diagnostic to some species of Orthoptera (Ragge and Reynolds 1998).
https://vocab.audioblast.org/TimeOfDayOfCall
en
| Time Of Day Of Highest Acoustic Activity | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/TimeOfDayOfHighestAcousticActivity
en
| Time Of Day Of Call | en |
https://vocab.audioblast.org/Wing-beatFrequency
en
The frequency at which the wings beat during flight producing a 'buzz' noise.
To cite this website:
Ed Baker (2026) audioBlast Vocabulary Server (https://vocab.audioblast.org/). Accessed on September 18, 2026, 9:13 am.