Daily activity rhythms, sleep and pregnancy are fundamentally related in the Pacific beetle mimic cockroach,...

Sleep and pregnancy are contentious bedfellows; sleep disorders and disturbances are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, although much is still unknown about this relationship. Sleep and pregnancy have been studied in many models, but the focus has been heavily on mammals. However, pregnancy is ubiquitous across animals - a hallmark of convergent evolution; similarly, sleep is a shared feature. Here, we present an ideal model in which to study the dynamics between sleep and pregnancy in invertebrates. The Pacific beetle mimic cockroach, Diploptera punctata, is a viviparous species that uses milk proteins to nourish its young with a broodsac over a 3 month pregnancy. However, little is known about the relationship between this unique reproductive biology and daily rhythms of activity and sleep. We established that D. punctata displayed a peak in activity following sunset, with males significantly more active than females. When scavenging behavior was examined, males and non-pregnant females emerged more often and traveled further from a shelter compared with pregnant females, suggesting reduced risk-taking behavior in late pregnancy. Chronic disturbance of sleep during pregnancy negatively impacted embryo development by increasing gestational duration and decreasing the transcription of milk proteins. These findings indicate that sleep is key to embryo development and that pregnancy has a significant impact on the daily rhythms of activity in Diploptera punctata. More broadly, we present a tractable invertebrate model for understanding the relationship between sleep and pregnancy, which will aid in the exploration of the poorly understood interface between these two ubiquitous and highly conserved traits.