Temperature and Humidity Relations of the Cockroach

Abstract

IN a recent paper, Bodenheimer¹ has recorded observations on the temperature-preference of various insects. In his apparatus there is a gradient of temperature, and a number of animals which he puts into the apparatus are free to move along the gradient. The temperature at which each animal comes to rest can be read off, and the arithmetic mean of such temperatures is the preferred temperature. He finds that the humidity of the air in which the animals are kept before the experiment has an effect on the preferred temperature. For example, Adesmia clathrata (tenebrionid beetle), when kept in moist air before the experiment, preferred a temperature of 39.4° C., and when kept in drier air before use, preferred 36.6° C.