Jail baits: how and why nymphs mimic adult females of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica
At North Carolina State University, the department of entomology has done some extensive
research of the courtship behaviors of the German Cockroach Blattella Germanica. What they
have discovered is that the males perform a “characteristic courtship behavior upon contacting a sexually receptive female.” The males instead of facing the female turn around and open their wings. This exposes the males Tergal Glands. If the females interested she will mount the male and feed upon these glands. These glands can only be accessed when a male thinks he is about to mate. The results of research supports the interpretation that nymphs engage in sexual mimicry to gain access to the male produced nuptial tergal secretions that are only exposed during courtship.
Stephen Chiricosta
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W9W-4X9NCFD-4&_user=1516330&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F2009&_rdoc=11&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-
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ReplyDeleteWhat are the male tergal glands used for? What do they secrete? Is it a type of pheromone that females can sense when they are looking to mate? Also what would be the benefit for the female of feeding off these glands? How is this action beneficiary to the species? - so much so that the mating behaviors are mimicked?
ReplyDeletePosted by Tiffany Mallet