Sensors For Escape
A Long And Clever History
Avoiding Danger
An Experiment
100

How many tiny hairs cover the cockroaches 'tail'/cerci?

Several hundred
100

What is the fossil in the picture called?

Amber

100

Where does a cockroach disappear to when you try to catch it?

A crack in the wall.

100

Name two natural enemies of cockroaches.

Wasps

Frogs

200

What special sense do cockroaches have?

Wind sense

200

How long have cockroaches lived on earth?

300 million years

200

True or False?

Cockroaches cannot move quickly.

False

200

What have scientists spent decades studying?

How well a cockroach's wind sensors work.

300

What are CERCI?

A cockroaches two spiked 'tails'.

300

How much longer have cockroaches lived on earth in comparison to humans?

60 times as long.

300

Where do cockroaches hang out during the day?

Dark cracks

Warm places

300

In which country do the scientists Dima Rinberg and Hanan Davidowitz live?

USA

400

What two things do the nerve cells detect?

The wind strength.

The wind direction.

400

Where and when was the cockroach fossil in the picture found?

In tree resin.

40 million years ago.

400

What 3 things help a cockroach avoid danger?

It's body, speed and habits.

400

Where did the Dima and Hanan conduct their cockroach experiments?

A wind tunnel.

500

How do cockroaches detect changes in wind?

The nerve cells attached to each of the hairs on their 'tails'.

500

Why do you think modern cockroaches are very similar to those that lived millions of years ago?

It's body was already well adapted to living successfully and escaping danger.

500

Give 2 reasons why it can it be difficult to get rid of cockroaches in your home?

They breed quickly.

They are usually active at night.

500

Why did the cockroaches respond most strongly to slow moving wind currents?

Because they are the kind of currents that their predators, wasps and frogs make just before they are about to strike.