Could pro thorax pattern be used to fool predators?

[Keith]

You know how B craniifer has a face pattern on its pro thorax, could the face pattern actually be there to fool predators into thinking being the "face" is watching above a predator won't sneak up to eat the cockroach? Or it looks intimidating like another animal to keep predators away? I'm guessing for birds and primates this might work, not sure it works on reptiles and amphibians since they readily eat cockroaches.

 

[Ralph]

The face doesn't really resemble any animal face, we just see it because we like seeing faces in other objects/organisms. I think it looks enough like mold on a dead leaf to help disguise the cockroach in a leaf pile or on a tree.

 

[Keith]

The face doesn't really resemble any animal face, we just see it because we like seeing faces in other objects/organisms. I think it looks enough like mold on a dead leaf to help disguise the cockroach in a leaf pile or on a tree.

That might be, I just figured black background with red contrast is pretty noticeable, and usually black and red in animal kingdom equals venom or warning colors. I did read certain blaberus species produce a chemical compound that produces that foul odor when disturbed, mabye to some animals this makes them taste really bad?

 

[Ralph]

That would make sense. Maybe it's perceived as aposematism by animals that are sensitive to that contrast, like birds and mammals.

I suppose somebody with monkeys could do some simple feeding experiments to see if there's a survival advantage with better-defended and/or more highly colored Blaberus. The hardest part about all that would be finding somebody with monkeys.

 

[Zephyr]

The hardest part about all that would be finding somebody with monkeys.

I know of several test subjects in this thread...

If anybody here as ever disturbed B. craniifer and handled them roughly, you may notice a very "spicy" odor comes out of them. In addition, if you continue to handle the roach (if you even can) you will notice profuse drooling, along with uncounterable kicking and flailing. After several minutes you should have welts on your hands and arms and anywhere else the roach has touched. I would imagine if this defensive routine has this effect on humans, then other non-human primates would be similarly effected if they tried to consume one. Although, I don't know how often roaches and neotropical primates encounter eachother in the wild; I've read at least one report of somebody getting deathly ill after checking for B. craniifer in a hollow tree due to inhalation of powdered bat guano and whatever else goes with that.

 

[Keith]

I know of several test subjects in this thread...

If anybody here as ever disturbed B. craniifer and handled them roughly, you may notice a very "spicy" odor comes out of them. In addition, if you continue to handle the roach (if you even can) you will notice profuse drooling, along with uncounterable kicking and flailing. After several minutes you should have welts on your hands and arms and anywhere else the roach has touched. I would imagine if this defensive routine has this effect on humans, then other non-human primates would be similarly effected if they tried to consume one. Although, I don't know how often roaches and neotropical primates encounter eachother in the wild; I've read at least one report of somebody getting deathly ill after checking for B. craniifer in a hollow tree due to inhalation of powdered bat guano and whatever else goes with that.

To me the odor smells like a mix of sulfur and hot pepper, it makes me want to gag yet slightly burns my nostrils and throat when I smell it.