The Effect of Temperature on Metabolic Rate of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Abstract

Metabolism is a one of the major supporting features of life. It plays a crucial role in allowing an organism to perform certain processes crucial to life, such as the conversion of energy and the regulation of one’s body temperature. We decided to measure the effect of ambient temperature on the metabolic rates of an ectotherm, and we will do this by measuring the CO2 output by some Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. We measured the CO2 output of the cockroaches at two different temperatures, 23° and 26°, and then compiled the data we got. We found that at higher temperatures the cockroaches have higher rates of respiration, which means that their metabolic rates increased as well.