Traffic noise makes mating crickets less picky

New research has found that the mating behavior of crickets is significantly affected by traffic noise and other human-made sounds. When human-made noise pollution was present, the females didn’t take into account the courtship song of the male crickets during mating. As the courtship song is energetically costly and provides crucial information about the health of the male, this could affect long-term population viability as females could choose less suitable mates.