When a male cockroach wants to mate with a female, he will move his butt toward her, open his wings and give her a homemade meal. As the lovely lady nibbles, the male locks onto her with one penis while another delivers a sperm package.
A roach romp can last 90 minutes if everything goes smoothly. In some places that are more difficult to eradicate with conventional pesticides, coitus is contributing to roach populations that are more difficult to eradicate with conventional pesticides.
In 1993, scientists at North Carolina State University discovered a trait in the German cockroach, a species that is found in every continent except Antarctica. As anyone who has ever battled against a roach invasion knows, roaches can't get enough of the sweet stuff.
Where did the new, health-conscious roaches come from?
After decades of trying to kill their ancestors with poison, we created them by accident. The next generation of roaches will inherit the trait of the one that ate the poison and died, while the other one avoided the death traps and lived long enough to breed.
When we think of evolution, we usually think of wild animals, but it's also happening with small animals in our kitchens.
A study published this month in the journal Communications Biology shows that the same trait that might help a female cockroach avoid sweet-tasting poison baits also makes her less.
The saliva of the roaches is capable of breaking down complex sugars, like those found in the male's courting offering, and turning them into simple sugars. When a female takes a bite of a male's nuptial gift, it becomes bitter in her mouth, and she bolts before he can complete the double barrel lock-and-pop maneuver.
The researchers said that the fewer hookups, the fewer bugs we'll have.
It is really complicated as to how this will affect the population.
Despite the hang-ups, the roaches still find ways to do the deed.
In lab experiments, Dr. Wada-Katsumata and her colleagues found that females who are glucose-averse are more scared of males than females who are not. They found that men who are not good at sugar are more likely to transition into sex after giving them a gift.
Coby Schal, distinguished professor of entomology at North Carolina State and an author of the study, said that the females might spend three seconds feeding on the male. The male does.
The researchers have evidence that shows that all of the new pressures are causing changes in the chemistry of the male nuptial gift so that he can continue attracting females.
The German cockroach's sugar saga shows how humans can drive both natural selection and sexual selection.
The idea that humans impose strong selection on animals around us is what makes this compelling.
The good news for consumers is that pesticide manufacturers share Dr. Wada-Katsumata and Dr. Schal's enthusiasm for understanding the evolution of roaches. It will take some time for those changes to make their way to the products on our shelves.
The bait that is not eaten by roaches is the worst thing that you can have as a product.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
