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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Neural Circuit Recording from an Intact Cockroach Nervous System
Published on: November 5, 2013
Hormonal control of sexual receptivity in cockroaches
1Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7613, USA.
Abstract:
Many animals exhibit specific behaviors associated with sexual receptivity only when they are reproductively competent. In insects with gonadal maturation cycles, these behaviors usually coincide with ovarian maturation. In the cockroach Blattella germanica, juvenile hormone (JH), produced by the corpora allata (CA), regulates female reproductive physiology. Various experimental manipulations, including ablation of the CA, therapy with JH analogs, CA denervation, ovariectomy, and changing nutrient quality, coupled with time-lapse video recording, support the hypothesis that JH also controls female sexual receptivity. A re-examination of the role of the CA in the maturation of male sexual readiness shows that, while sexual behavior develops in the absence of JH in both B. germanica and Supella longipalpa, JH accelerates the expression of sexual readiness.
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