Video: How and Why Cockroaches Clean Their Antennae
Posted on March 3, 2013
This video from NPR's Science Friday explains how and why cockroaches clean themselves. Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University, says cockroaches are constant groomers. To clean its antennae, a cockroach brings the antenna to its mouth with its front leg and then runs the entire antenna through its mouth. Schal conducted a study that found cockroaches groom their antennae because its helps enhance olfactory acuity. Schal gave cockroaches the tiny insect equivalent of dog collars (applied to a single antenna) and found that the ungroomed antenna accumulated more environmental contaminants. Cockroaches have pores on their antennae that contain olfactory neurons and they don't function as well if they are blocked. A research report was published in the journal PNAS. Take a look:
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