Wings were a fundamental morphological innovation for the adaptive radiation of insects, the most diversified group among all animals. Pterygote insects have two pairs of wings, the mesothoracic (T2) forewings and the metathoracic (T3) hindwings, whereas the prothorax (T1) is wingless. Using RNA interference approaches, we have found that the gene Sex combs reduced (Scr) determines the wingless...

In group-living animals, aggregation favours interactions and information exchanges between individuals, and thus allows the emergence of complex collective behaviors. In previous works, a model of a self-enhanced aggregation was deduced from experiments with the cockroach Blattella germanica. In the present work, this model was implemented in micro-robots Alice and successfully reproduced the ...

We report the faithful reproduction of the self-organized aggregation behavior of the German cockroach Blattella germanica with a group of robots. We describe the implementation of the biological model provided by Jeanson et al. in Alice robots, and we compare the behaviors of the cockroaches and the robots using the same experimental and analytical methodology. We show that the aggregation beh...

Esterases from insecticide-resistant and -susceptible strains of German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.), were isolated and analyzed for differences in activity. The isozymes E5, E6, E7, and E8 of resistant strains indicated about two- to fivefold increases in activity compared with those of the susceptible strain. These isozymes constituted approximately 60% of the total activity in the res...

BACKGROUND Sensitization to allergens produced by German and American cockroaches is strongly associated with the cause of asthma. Most of the cockroach allergens identified to date have been species specific. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify and sequence cross-reactive cockroach allergens. METHODS A Periplaneta americana cDNA library was screened with IgE antibody from patie...

quantitative real time PCR; REST, relative expression software tool. 31 32 2 SUMMARY 33 Aquaporins (AQPs) are membrane proteins that form water channels, allowing rapid 34 movement of water across cell membranes. AQPs have been reported in species of all 35 life kingdoms and in almost all tissues, but little is known about them in insects. Our 36 purpose was to explore the occurrence of AQPs in...

Cockroaches, like many other animal species, form aggregations in which social stimuli from conspecifics can alter the physiology, morphology, or behavior of individuals. In adult females of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, social isolation slows oocyte development, sexual maturation, and sexual receptivity, whereas social interactions as minimal as between just two females accelerate...