Behavioral and Morphological Studies of the Membranous Tergal Structure of Male Blattella germanica (Blattodea: Ectobiidae) During Courtship.

ABSTRACT: The male German cockroach Blattella germanica (L.) exhibits a characteristic courtship display by raising its wings, turning around, and exposing its tergal glands on the seventh and eighth tergites to the female. The male secretes a courtship pheromone from the tergal glands which induces a strong feeding response in the female, facilitating copulation. Upon multiple, detailed microscopic observations of the courtship display, we found that the male markedly expanded the intersegmental area between the sixth and seventh tergites, but deflated this area as soon as it perceived a tactile stimulus on its back by the female, while continuing to raise its wings and exposing the tergal glands. The intersegmental area is composed of two parts: a membranous posterior part of the sixth tergite, an

SUBMITTER: Shimomura K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6804909 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature