maximus otter
Recovering policeman
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Humans using sugar in cockroach traps has inadvertently led to female roaches being turned off by the sugary "gifts" males use to entice them into mating.
But don't celebrate the demise of cockroaches just yet -- some males have adapted new ways to continue wooing females, including by shortening the length of foreplay.
Thirty years ago, researchers first noticed that some German cockroaches had developed an aversion to glucose and were avoiding the traps.
This distaste for glucose may save them from death, but it has also put a damper on their sex life.
Male cockroaches have a very particular manoeuvre to attract females into mating.
They lift their wings and expose a special gland that secretes a "nuptial gift," a cocktail which includes the sugar maltose.
The female jumps on the male's back to lap up the treat, which keeps her occupied "long enough for the male to extend his abdomen under the female and engage her genitalia," the study said.
However the saliva of the females quickly converts the maltose into glucose.
Females who have developed an aversion to glucose jump off "before the male can grasp the female genitalia," potentially affecting the future reproduction of the species, the study said.
But never fear: male cockroaches who have also evolved an aversion to glucose can now get around the problem.
These males have changed the composition of their nuptial gift, slashing the glucose content and more than doubling the amount of maltotriose.
This sugar is both hugely popular with females and converts into glucose much more slowly than maltose.
The males also shortened the courtship process, allowing less times for the glucose conversion to take place.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sugar-traps-force-cockroaches-adapt-000804363.html
maximus otter
But don't celebrate the demise of cockroaches just yet -- some males have adapted new ways to continue wooing females, including by shortening the length of foreplay.
Thirty years ago, researchers first noticed that some German cockroaches had developed an aversion to glucose and were avoiding the traps.
This distaste for glucose may save them from death, but it has also put a damper on their sex life.
Male cockroaches have a very particular manoeuvre to attract females into mating.
They lift their wings and expose a special gland that secretes a "nuptial gift," a cocktail which includes the sugar maltose.
The female jumps on the male's back to lap up the treat, which keeps her occupied "long enough for the male to extend his abdomen under the female and engage her genitalia," the study said.
However the saliva of the females quickly converts the maltose into glucose.
Females who have developed an aversion to glucose jump off "before the male can grasp the female genitalia," potentially affecting the future reproduction of the species, the study said.
But never fear: male cockroaches who have also evolved an aversion to glucose can now get around the problem.
These males have changed the composition of their nuptial gift, slashing the glucose content and more than doubling the amount of maltotriose.
This sugar is both hugely popular with females and converts into glucose much more slowly than maltose.
The males also shortened the courtship process, allowing less times for the glucose conversion to take place.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sugar-traps-force-cockroaches-adapt-000804363.html
maximus otter
