Cockroaches and the Sense of Perception

Response You have probably heard

of the term “Flight or

Fight Response” and not

only associated with

cockroaches. It is when

an animal in a dangerous

situation will either flee

or stay to fight in order to

survive. In both cases

that animal is normally

flooded with adrenaline

after a perceived threat is

assessed.

#1

Perception of Threats

Perception of threats. That is

what it comes down to. The

interesting fact is that not all

threats are perceived in the

same way, or in the same

manner. Many mammals use

sight and smell to sense

danger. In the world of

cockroaches, they have

evolved a different approach

for that same tactic at

survival.

01

Flight or Fight

When you normally see a

cockroach, it’s when you turn on a

light or move something they were

hiding under. You would assume

that it’s the light that makes them

scurry away, as they are normally

nocturnal in nature. That

assumption is a bit incorrect; one,

even I had made. Cockroaches have

a very stimulus based sense of

perception when it comes to

threats and a flight response; I

haven’t seen any cases of a fight

response, yet.

02

Flight or Fight

Along the legs of cockroaches are

many different downwards

pointing hairs, at the base of each

hair on the leg there is a

mechanoreceptor running next

to a nerve. A mechanoreceptor

sounds exactly like what it is. It’s a

receptor that is activated by

movement, which triggers a

mechanical reaction. So when

that hair is moved, it activates the

mechanoreceptor to send a

signal along the nerve; for the

cockroach to run.

03

Flight or Fight

That hair can be moved by as

little as the vibrations in a

footstep across a room, or the air

displaced by a foot coming down

to stomp the cockroach.  It is a

very handy survival mechanism

and has helped the cockroach to

survive millions of years and

many extinctions. It appears that

when that hair is moved by the

appropriate stimuli, the response

to flee is very fast, and somewhat

not up to the cockroach. That’s

why they move so fast when you

see them.

The really interesting part to me is that it’s not just you turning on the light

when you walk into a room that makes a cockroach run. It is more based on that they sense you by the vibrations of your steps, which is what makes

them run.

thanks for the time

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