B.10B Sweet Cockroach Courtship – 03
If a female cockroach hates glucose, will she hang around long enough in the perfect position for sperm to be deposited? The answer to that question is no, according to Bittel. The researchers reported that the glucose-averse females removed themselves within seconds of encountering the glucose offered by the male. The males did not have enough time to latch on to deposit their sperm.
However, in another surprise finding, the researchers observed that glucose-averse males found a way around this new situation. They changed their behavior. They started transitioning into a sexual position much more quickly than normal for cockroaches. Their swift movement to the necessary position allowed for the glucose-hating trait to be passed on to future generations. Males with the normal glucose-loving trait did not change their behavior. They could not latch on to glucose-averse females quickly enough. They were not successful at introducing their glucose-loving trait into the hater population. The introduction of this mutation to the population resulted in differential reproductive success.

The NC State research illustrates physiological and behavioral changes in animals as they respond to ongoing human interactions. Humans influence natural selection in animals and other living things. The research also highlights the type of information that drives manufacturers to continually analyze and test their products and to make necessary changes to an ever-evolving natural world.
Bittel, Jason. “Cockroach Reproduction Has Taken a Strange Turn” [New York, NY]. The New York Times, 27 May 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/science/cockroach-sugar-sex.html.