New research shows that when plants talk, insects listen
Published: August 11, 2025
Category: Research News
According to a recent study by researchers at Tel Aviv University, there is evidence that plants and insects interact through sound, a finding that opens a new frontier in the study of acoustic communication in nature.
The study, published in the journal eLife, suggests that female moths—who usually lay their eggs on tomato plants to provide food for their larvae after they hatch—detect ultrasonic distress signals emitted by dehydrated tomato plants and use this information to decide where to lay their eggs.
While the ultrasonic sounds are outside the range of human hearing, they can be picked up by many insects and some mammals, such as bats.
In a statement, the team of researchers said, “We revealed the first evidence for acoustic interaction between a plant and an insect.” Previous research by the team showed that plants emit ultrasonic sounds when under stress. These new findings build on that research, and could have implications for agriculture and pest control, opening up possibilities for managing crop health and insect behavior through sound.
In their research, the team presented female moths with two healthy tomato plants: one with a speaker playing sounds registered from a drying plant, and one that was silent. The moths preferred the silent option, suggesting they use these cues to identify optimal sites for laying eggs.
Further experiments confirmed that the moths’ choices were guided specifically by sound and only to sounds from the plants. The researchers considered that many animals may be responding to different plants, saying, “We think that this is just the beginning.”
Source: Reuters
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