Behavioral Ecology of Cryptocercus
Egg-laying is an important aspect of insect parental care, as it characterizes the survival of a lineage. Most cockroaches, before laying their egg case, dig a cradle where the egg case is subsequently laid. However, previous observations have shown that the wood-eating cockroach Cryptocercus, termi...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Dissertation |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
01-01-2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Egg-laying is an important aspect of insect parental care, as it characterizes the survival of a lineage. Most cockroaches, before laying their egg case, dig a cradle where the egg case is subsequently laid. However, previous observations have shown that the wood-eating cockroach Cryptocercus, termites' closest relatives, may do this in a reversed order laying its egg case before digging a cradle. We sought to verify this controversial observation in our study. Thus, we designed an observational laboratory setup to demonstrate if Cryptocercus females would dig a cradle after dropping the ootheca, as opposed to before and what preferred substrate the mother would use for its ootheca. To further future research on Crytocercus’ behavioral ecology, we also aimed to develop a protocol for semi-automated analysis of wood-feeding patterns derived from photographs. The results obtained would be analyzed and discussed, they were important biological data that lead us to insights to shape future research directions on this particular cockroach clade. |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 9798762190282 |