Left-right tympanal size asymmetry in the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea.

Abstract

Ormia ochracea is a parasitoid fly notable for its impressive hearing abilities relative to its small size. Here, we use it as a model organism to investigate if minor size differences in paired sensory organs may be beneficial or neutral to an organism's perception abilities. We took high-resolution images of tympanal organs from 21 O. ochracea specimens and found a statistically significant surface area asymmetry (up to 6.88%) between the left and right membranes. Numerical experiments indicated that peak values of key sound localization variables increased with increasing tympanal asymmetry, which may explain features of the limited available physiological data.