German Cockroaches Learn Group Odor Through Specific Ritual, Offering Breakthrough in Pest Control
Researchers at North Carolina State University discovered that newly hatched German cockroaches acquire their gut microbiome by eating adult feces, a process that helps them memorize their...
Researchers at North Carolina State University discovered that newly hatched German cockroaches acquire their gut microbiome by eating adult feces, a process that helps them memorize their colony’s unique scent and form social bonds.
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Unusual Beginning of Life: Lack of Microbiome and Shared Feeding Site
The study was conducted by researchers from North Carolina State University. They showed that immediately after hatching, German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) do not yet have their own gut microbiome. They acquire the necessary microorganisms and nutrients by eating feces gathered in a common place by individuals belonging to the same group.
Eating Feces to Remember Group Odor
The researchers compared young cockroaches that could do this with individuals deprived of such an opportunity. Over time, the former began to clearly prefer the scent of their group’s feces. The latter had no such preferences and reacted similarly to scents coming from different clusters of cockroaches.
According to the authors, this means young insects are naturally attracted to the feces of representatives of their own species, but only after eating them do they learn the characteristic scent of their group. The memorized signal then helps them find the right cluster and stay near it.
Breakthrough in the Fight Against Pest Infestation
This discovery can help us combat cockroach infestations, commented lead study author Ayako Wada-Katsumata.
Reframing Subsocial Insects
In her view, the study’s results are important for another reason as well—they significantly broaden the knowledge of these insects’ social behaviors. Until now, German cockroaches were considered subsocial animals, meaning they live in groups but do not form societies as organized as colonies of bees, ants, or termites.
The ability to learn and memorize the scent of one’s own group slightly changes this view. It resembles the mechanisms by which social insects recognize members of their colony.
German cockroaches have developed their own way of forming group bonds, summarized study co-author Prof. Coby Schal.
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