Do cockroaches ‘know’ about fluid dynamics?

Rinberg, Dmitry; Davidowitz, Hanan

doi:10.1038/35015677

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Work on cockroach escape responses extends from sensory physiology to behaviour and biomechanics (e.g. Camhi and Tom, 1978;Comer and Dowd, 1987;Rinberg and Davidowitz, 2000;Stierle et al, 1994;Westin, 1979). Hairs on their abdominal cerci detect the direction of wind produced by an approaching real or simulated threat (Camhi and Tom, 1978;Kondoh et al, 1991;Thompson et al, 1992;Westin, 1979).…”

Section: Insects Cockroachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Domenici¹,

Blagburn

Bacon

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

134

151

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Summary Escape trajectories (ETs; measured as the angle relative to the direction of the threat) have been studied in many taxa using a variety of methodologies and definitions. Here, we provide a review of methodological issues followed by a survey of ET studies across animal taxa, including insects, crustaceans, molluscs, lizards, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. Variability in ETs is examined in terms of ecological significance and morpho-physiological constraints. The survey shows that certain escape strategies (single ETs and highly variable ETs within a limited angular sector) are found in most taxa reviewed here, suggesting that at least some of these ET distributions are the result of convergent evolution. High variability in ETs is found to be associated with multiple preferred trajectories in species from all taxa, and is suggested to provide unpredictability in the escape response. Random ETs are relatively rare and may be related to constraints in the manoeuvrability of the prey. Similarly, reports of the effect of refuges in the immediate environment are relatively uncommon, and mainly confined to lizards and mammals. This may be related to the fact that work on ETs carried out in laboratory settings has rarely provided shelters. Although there are a relatively large number of examples in the literature that suggest trends in the distribution of ETs, our understanding of animal escape strategies would benefit from a standardization of the analytical approach in the study of ETs, using circular statistics and related tests, in addition to the generation of large data sets.

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Section: Insects Cockroachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Domenici¹,

Blagburn

Bacon

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

134

151

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“…escape success) and ecology (sensu Arnold, 1983), the morphological variation has to be in turn translated into fitness variation associated with predator escape. However, while crickets and cockroaches are reported to encode information on their fluid dynamical environment (Rinberg and Davidowitz, 2000), the information available for crickets during predator-prey interaction in the field remains unknown as only a couple of laboratory measurements of the predator signal have been conducted (Tautz and Markl, 1978;Gnatzy, 1996). Some of these experiments can, however, provide helpful data to discuss the fitness relevance of cricket sensor variability.…”

Section: Sensor Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in morphology and performance of predator-sensing system in wild cricket populations

Dangles

Magal

Pierre

et al. 2005

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Even though variation in morphology is known to translate into variation in performance, studies looking at structural variability of a sensor to predict its consequences on the performance of animals are exceedingly rare. We investigated the morphological variability of air-flow-sensing receptors in wild populations of wood crickets (Nemobius sylvestris) sampled in a wide variety of habitats differing in latitude, litter structure, vegetation and predator communities. These hair receptors act as predator sensors. The observed levels of hair morphological variation were then incorporated into a biomechanical model of the hair canopy response to air flow to predict their influence on cricket predator perception. Cricket populations differ from each other, often strongly so, in the total number of hairs and in the number of hairs longer than 1 mm, which are the hairs most sensitive for the perception of approaching predators. The hair canopy response, the output of the biomechanical model, sums up over the entire canopy the angles of deflection at which a neurophysiological response is triggered and represents the sensitivity of the cercal system. It is 35% higher in the most sensitive population, compared with the least sensitive population. These large differences in perception sensitivity for a given predator signal translate into larger distances at which predators could be perceived. Thus, differences in morphology at the sensor level seem to be translated both at the perception level and subsequently at the performance level of crickets.

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“…However, the rules governing this variability are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate tha t individual cockroaches ( Periplaneta americana , a much studied model prey species [9–14]) keep each escape unpredictable by running along one of a set of preferred trajectories at fixed angles from the direction of the threatening stimulus. These results provide a new paradigm for understanding the behavio ural strategies for escape responses, underscoring the need to revisit the neural mechanisms controlling escape directions in the cockroach and similar animal models, and the evolutionary forces driving unpredictable, or “protean” [3], anti-predator behaviour.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cockroaches Keep Predators Guessing by Using Preferred Escape Trajectories

et al. 2008

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Summary Anti-predator behaviour is vital for most animals, and calls for accurate timing and swift motion. While fast reaction times [1] and predictable, context-dependent, escape initiation distances [2] are common features of most escape systems, previous work has highlighted the need for unpredictability in escape directions, in order to prevent predators from learning a repeated, fixed pattern [3–5]. Ultimate unpredictability would result from random escape trajectories. Although this strategy would deny any predictive power to the predator, it would also result in some escape trajectories towards the threat. Previous work has shown that escape trajectories are in fact generally directed away from the threat, although with a high variability [5–8]. However, the rules governing this variability are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate tha t individual cockroaches (Periplaneta americana, a much studied model prey species [9–14]) keep each escape unpredictable by running along one of a set of preferred trajectories at fixed angles from the direction of the threatening stimulus. These results provide a new paradigm for understanding the behavio ural strategies for escape responses, underscoring the need to revisit the neural mechanisms controlling escape directions in the cockroach and similar animal models, and the evolutionary forces driving unpredictable, or “protean” [3], anti-predator behaviour.

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Do cockroaches ‘know’ about fluid dynamics?

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Variation in morphology and performance of predator-sensing system in wild cricket populations

Cockroaches Keep Predators Guessing by Using Preferred Escape Trajectories

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