Fig. 6.3.

Courtship sequence in B. germanica. The female calls and releases a long-range attractant, blattellaquinone, from a pygidial gland (A) to which the male orients from a distance. The male and female assess each other through mutual antennal contact (B). The male is stimulated by a contact sex pheromone on the female’s cuticle to perform a wing-raising courtship display (C) while emitting a yet-to-be identified volatile sex pheromone from his tergal gland. The female is attracted to feed on a nuptial secretion within the tergal gland (D) which contains phagostimulatory sugars, phospholipids and proteins. This positions the female so that the male can telescope his abdomen and engage the female’s genitalia with his left phallomere (penis). Copulation follows (E) and lasts ~95 min. Both female and male may groom their antennae at any time during this sequence, as depicted in (A). The female then proceeds to form an ootheca. Source: Drawings are based on our observations.