Resting Behavior of the German Cockroach, Blattella germanica1

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Abstract
Masonite plaques, 4 in. square and ¼ in. thick, separated by balsawood spacers, were used to construct resting spaces ranging in height from 1/16 to ½ inch in ½-in. increments. Sets of these 8 spacings were placed horizontally in 8 glass containers, each of which contained 20 male and 20 female (without egg capsules) adult B. germanica (L.). Other sets of spacings were placed vertically in screen cages, which likewise were populated with cockroaches, but with only 10 of each sex. Approximately 85% of the populations congregated in the spaces 3/10 in. high. When stacks of 8 spaces, all 3/10 in. high, were placed in battery jars similarly populated with cockroaches, the insects tended to congregate in the lowest spaces. This behavioral pattern was found not to be attributed to the factor of either light or gravity. Chi-square tests of the findings indicated that all the observed distributions were significant at the 5% probability level.

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