Temperatures Effect on Metabolic Rate of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa)

Abstract

The purpose in which this experiment was conducted was to identify the correlation between the temperature of the habitat and the metabolic rate of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Since cockroaches are ectotherms, their metabolic rate reflects the temperature of their environment. In our experiment, we manipulated the temperature in which the ectotherm was kept and recorded the output level of carbon dioxide at different temperatures. We hypothesized that in increased temperatures, the metabolic rate would increase more drastically than it would in lower temperatures. Our hypothesis was supported in the area that the metabolic rate would increase as temperature increased. However, we also found that the metabolic rate would decrease drastically at extremely low temperatures but increase the most at a temperature slightly warmer than the previous one.