Positive thigmotactic behavior is associated with the ability to hide from predators and is important to explain aggregation and collective patterns in various animals. For example, this behavior has been observed in woodlice, domiciliary cockroaches, ants, and fish. Lately, research on different species is focused on the importance of animal personality for ecological and evolutionary processe...

Cockroaches were observed with videographic methods as escape running was initiated, but with obstacles in the path of their run. The goal was to determine the repertoire of possible responses to obstacles and the sensory cues used to trigger the responses. Intact cockroaches collided with obstacles on only about 10% of trials. The most common collision avoidance strategy was simply to stop run...

OBJECTIVE To determine the sensitivity of Blattela germanica L (B. germanica L) to differenct doses of insulin. METHODS B. germanica were reared in laboratory conditions at (25±2) °C and (50±5)% relative humidity (RH), and exposure period of 12:12 L/D. Different concentrations, viz. 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 µ of insulin N, R, (N+R) were prepared and injected to 10 treated cockroaches with another...

Extensive use of pyrethroid insecticides for urban pest control has led to widespread pyrethroid resistance in the German cockroach. A mutation at nucleotide position 2979 (G to C, causing a leucine to phenylalanine change) in the S6 transmembrane segment of domain II of the para-homologous voltage-gated sodium channel has been previously identiÞed in knockdown-resistant cockroaches and demonst...

Determining the location of a particular stimulus is often crucial to an animal’s survival. One way to determine the local distribution of an odor is to make simultaneous comparisons acrossmultiple sensors. If the sensors detect differences in the distribution of an odor in space, the animal can then steer toward the source. American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana, have 4 cm long antennae a...

Within natural environments, animals must be able to respond to a wide range of obstacles in their path. Such responses require sensory information to facilitate appropriate and effective motor behaviors. The objective of this study was to characterize sensors involved in the complex control of obstacle negotiation behaviors in the cockroach Blaberus discoidalis. Previous studies suggest that a...