On the Significance of Pseudofemale Behavior in the Neotropical Cockroach Genera Blaberus, Archimandrita and Byrsotria

The basic constituents of successful courtship behavior in most species of cockroaches studied thus far are as follows: (1) The male contacts the female. (2) The male courts the female and gives a "full wing raising display," elevating his wings to a nearly vertical position and turning away from the female. (3) The female shows the "mounting and feeding" response. She straddles the male’s exposed abdomen and moves forward. As she mounts, the female’s mouthparts and palps are closely applied to the male’s abdominal tergites and are worked vigorously. (In some species, the female feeds upon secretions of specialized tergal glands.) (4) The male backs beneath the mounting and feeding female, extending his abdomen backward in copulatory thrusts. (5) Genital connection is achieved and the pair execute a turning operation to assume the opposed copulatory position (male and female facing in opposite directions). The opposed position persists throughout copulation which may last for an hour or more (Barth 1968a, Wendelken 1976, Simon and Barth 1977a). Females and males are generally suspected of producing sex pheromones of varying degrees of volatility which function in the release of certain aspects of courtship behavior. The relative contributions of chemical and tactile stimuli to the release of the various stages in the courtship sequence vary considerably among different species (Barth 1968a). As a rule, female sex pheromones are important in release of male courtship behavior, including the full wing raising display (Barth 1968a, 1970; Wendelken 1976; Simon and Barth 1977b). And male sex pheromones are believed to be involved in release of the female mounting and feeding response which serves to position the female such that the male may achieve genital connection (Roth and Dateo 1966, Barth 1968a). The tactile stimuli produced by the female’s mounting and feeding response play an