Groundbreaking research from Tel Aviv University has revealed that animals respond to sounds emitted by plants, suggesting a hidden ecosystem of interactions. In a pioneering study, scientists discovered that female moths avoid laying eggs on tomato plants emitting distress signals, indicating poor plant health. This marks the first evidence of animals reacting to plant-generated sounds.

Two years ago, the same team demonstrated that plants produce high-frequency “screams” when stressed or unhealthy, inaudible to humans but detectable by insects, bats, and some mammals. “This is the first time we’ve shown an animal responding to these plant sounds,” said Prof. Yossi Yovel. He speculated that various animals might use these cues to make decisions, such as whether to pollinate, hide in, or consume a plant.

Through controlled experiments, the researchers confirmed that moths were reacting to the plants’ sounds, not their appearance. The team now plans to explore the range of sounds produced by different plants and whether other species respond similarly. Prof. Lilach Hadany suggested that plants might also communicate with each other via sound, potentially coordinating responses like water conservation during droughts. “This is an exciting possibility,” she told BBC News. “Stressed plants could signal to others, prompting collective responses.”

The study, published in eLife, emphasizes that these sounds result from physical changes in plants due to environmental stress, not sentience. However, the findings point to a coevolutionary relationship where plants may have developed louder or more frequent sounds to benefit from animal interactions, while animals evolved to interpret these signals. “This opens a vast, unexplored field,” Hadany noted.

In the experiments, female moths, which typically lay eggs on tomato plants to nourish their larvae, avoided plants emitting distress sounds, choosing healthier ones instead. This behavior suggests moths use these acoustic cues to select optimal egg-laying sites, highlighting a sophisticated interplay between plants and animals that could reshape our understanding of ecosystems.