The Effect of Temperature on the Movement of Cockroaches

Abstract

Ectotherms base their inner body temperature around the surrounding environment. Whether ectotherms prefer warmer temperatures over lower temperatures has been discussed over the years. To investigate whether cockroaches prefer warmer temperatures or if they prefer colder temperatures, we will set three random cockroaches in room temperature conditions (22 degrees Celsius), colder temperature conditions (9.5 degrees Celsius), and in warmer temperatures (27.5 degrees Celsius). Based off of this experiment, we discovered that Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches prefer the warm environment to cold environments because they moved more times per minute in the higher temperatures.