Changes in Respiration Rates for Cockroaches in different Temperatures

Abstract

 Cockroaches are ectotherms and regulate heat from outside of their body. Studies have shown that they use their spiracles to exchange respiratory gasses, and gas is exchanged with their tissues. This ability allows respiration to occur in two different areas of their body. When heated, to test the respiration rates we measured the CO2 production at room temperature for 10 minutes, this showed a CO2 level increase of about 16.5% at the end of the test. Then we heated the respiration chamber to 30 degrees Celsius where the CO2 levels increased by 22.4%. After the warm test, we lowered the temperature to 9.5 degrees Celsius and there was a 33.9% increase in CO2 levels. This shows that the colder temperatures cause the insects to have higher respiration rates. The correlation of cockroaches respiration and colder temperatures may have implications that are important to future studies.