Escape-behavior
Guides
Blaberus craniifer
Death's Head Cockroach, Death's-head Cockroach
Blaberus craniifer is a large cockroach species distinguished by the distinctive jack-o'-lantern marking on its pronotum. It exhibits complex sexual behavior including male-produced substrate vibrations and sex pheromones for long-distance female attraction, followed by stereotyped courtship rituals and post-copulatory mate guarding. Unlike the closely related Periplaneta americana, this species shows reduced wind-mediated escape responses and prefers digging behaviors when disturbed. It serves as a host for specific gregarine and nematode parasites that occupy different gut regions without significantly affecting host growth, indicating long co-evolutionary adaptation. The species is valued in entomological collections and hobbyist rearing due to its striking appearance and minimal care requirements.
Dinumma deponens
curved-ribbon
Dinumma deponens is a moth in the family Erebidae (formerly Noctuidae) first described by Francis Walker in 1858. Native to Asia, it has been introduced to North America with established populations in the southeastern United States. The species is notable for its larvae's ability to escape drowning through specialized undulatory locomotion on water surfaces. Larvae feed on Albizia species, particularly Albizia julibrissin.
Paroxya atlantica
Atlantic Grasshopper, Atlantic Locust
Paroxya atlantica is a species of spur-throated grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is native to North America, with documented occurrence in Florida. The species exhibits semi-aquatic habits, frequently associated with vegetation at the margins of slow-moving water bodies. A 2011 study in Behavioral Ecology examined how limb autotomy affects its escape behavior.