Are Pregnant Females of the German Cockroach Too Heavy to Run?

懷孕的德國蜚蠊活動量很低。因為懷孕的雌蟲須要背負相當本身體重百分之三十以上的卵鞘，所以有一假說的提出：懷孕的德國蜚蠊身體太重而跑不動。本研究由雌蟲在休息或奔跑時氧氣消耗量來測試這個假說。懷孕雌蟲（14日齡）的氧氣消耗量比剛羽化雌蟲顯著地少，當將重量加在同日齡之處女雌蟲，並不會增加其氧氣消耗量。因為增加重量與氧氣消耗量的改變並不呈正相關，14日齡雌蟲可以背負重擔而不增加其氧氣消耗量。從這些結果得知，懷孕雌蟲並不受背負卵鞘重量之影響而變得不活躍，所以否証了這個假說。

關鍵字

德國蜚蠊；氧氣消耗量

並列摘要

Pregnant females of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, are highly inactive. Since pregnant female has to carry an ootheca which is ＞ 30% of its body weight, the hypothesis that pregnant females are too heavy to run is proposed. If the energy costs were too high in pregnant females, it is possible that pregnant females were limited simply by high energy demand. To test this hypothesis, a reliable index of energy cost and oxygen consumption for pregnant females was used for comparison with non-pregnant females in either resting or running conditions. The oxygen consumption of pregnant females (14-day-old) was significantly less than that of newly emerged females. The same age virgin females with an extra weight did not significantly increase oxygen consumption when compared to virgin females without an extra weight. No positive correlation was found between a heavy load on females and oxygen consumption. 14-day-old females could sustain heavy loads without raising their oxygen consumption. From these results, it is concluded pregnant females are not bound by the heavy load of the ootheca to become inactive, and the hypothesis is falsified.

並列關鍵字