Sex-specific differences in nitrogen intake and investment by feral and laboratory-cultured cockroaches

We compared nutrient selection in a laboratory culture of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana: Insecta, Blattodea) and a feral population which was founded by escapees from the culture approximately 14 generations prior to the study. In a first experiment, adult male and female cockroaches were provided with two nutritionally complementary synthetic foods, and thus allowed to select the protein and carbohydrate components of their diet independently. There were no differences in the amounts of carbohydrate eaten by the two populations. However, feral males ingested more protein than cultured males. In a second experiment, the construction of nitrogen budgets showed that the additional nitrogen ingested by feral males was allocated preferentially to accessory sex glands, rather than somatic tissue or excretion via the faeces. This suggests a possible role for sexual selection in the dietary difference between the strains. By contrast with males, there was no statistically significant difference in the amount of protein eaten by females of the two populations. However, feral females were found to have a higher density of bacterial endosymbionts than cultured females. Since these symbionts are involved in the synthesis of essential amino acids, this might account for greater reproductive output observed in a previous study in the feral compared with the culture females.