Escape strategy of the cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) to heat and looming stimuli

Author

Jiangda Ou, James Madison UniversityFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Summer 2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Department of Biology

Advisor(s)

Corey L. Cleland

Kyle Seifert

Patrice M. Ludwig

Abstract

Escape responses to aversive stimuli have been observed in insects, including species of cricket, fly, locust, and cockroach. The goal of this study was to investigate the escape strategy of the Madagascar cockroach, Gromphadorhina portentosa. In regard to this species, Erickson and colleagues (2015) showed that electrical stimulation of both cerci and antennae together could generate an escape response. However, in other reports (Olsen and Triblehorn, 2014), it was observed that wind could not elicit the escape response. In this study, G. portentosa was stimulated by looming and heat stimuli. A 2.5’’ black ball approaching at 1 m/s was used to mimic a predator and a laser was used to apply heat stimuli to the cockroach’s tarsi. The results showed that heat stimuli evoked robust turning and translation responses while the looming stimuli evoked small but significant translation but not turning. In conclusion, and in contrast to the literature, Madagascar cockroaches displayed robust escape responses to looming and especially heat stimuli.

Recommended Citation

Ou, Jiangda, "Escape strategy of the cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) to heat and looming stimuli" (2016). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 163.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/163