Cockroach interactions

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Cockroach interactions
by Aleister Williams Norristown Lucas
Franki Waynesboro
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Introduction
Goal Want to know how cockroaches interact

• Questions
• If you put a few different cockroach species
  together overnight where would they be in the
  morning?
• What happens if you put two different kinds of
  cockroaches together will they attack each other
  or will they not care?

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Hypothesis 1
Question 1 Hypothesis Different species will be
found together after being left
overnight Alternative hypothesis Different
species will NOT be found together
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Hypothesis 2
Question 2 Hypothesis Different cockroach
species will not interact Alternative hypothesis
Different cockroach species WILL interact
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Methods
Materials 1. Five cockroach species Blatta
lateralis Turkestan CockroachLecophaga maderae
(Madera cockroach)Periplaneta americana
(American cockroach)Panchlora nivea (Cuban
cockroach)Gromphadorhina portentosa (Madagascar
Hissing cockroach)
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2. Apparatus Plastic boxes (15)3 oz paper
cupsPlastic petri dishesLabels, scissors
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Turkestan
American
Madera
Hissing
Cuban
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Experimental Design (a)

• Experiment 1
• Five species of cockroach
• Five containers with 6 cups in each
• Two hole cut in each cup
• Cups turned upside down
• Left overnight

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Experimental Design (b)

• Experiment two
• Two species of cockroach
• Put them into a petri dish
• Watched how many times they bumped into
  each other at one minute intervals
• At each minute record if they were together
  or not

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Results
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Experiment 1 control
Species have different amounts of
sociability Madera cockroach is the most sociable
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Experiment 1 test
Container 1. Hissing and Madera Container 2.
American and Madera Container 3. Hissing and
Madera Container 4. American and Madera Container
5. American, Madera, Turkestan
Hissing, Madera and American cockroaches were
more often together than cuban or Turkestan Cuban
is least sociable, and one escaped!
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Experiment two Control
Two individuals of same species
American and Turkestan interact the most
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Experiment two Test
Two individuals of different species
Hissing and Turkestan interact most
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Result Summary

• Experiment 1 Madera most sociable, Cuban least
  sociable.
• Experiment 2 American and Turkestan most
  sociable.

Conclusions
Alternative hypothesis was supported different
cockroach species will interact
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• Future research
• Do the experiments more times to be sure of the
  result
• Better habitat for testing behavior
• Test more species
• Test at different times
• Make sure cockroaches are healthy
• Use ACTIVE cockroaches

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Credits and acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following
people Glenn Holbrook, and his technicians for
supplying the cockroaches. John Grehan for
assisting us with the experiments. Our parents
for bringing us to Bug Camp. And finally, the
cockroaches for being so active, especially the
American cockroaches!