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The Daily Rhythm of Activity of the Cockroach, Blatta Orientalis L : I. Aktograph Experiments, Especially in Relation to Light
1 Zoology Department, University of Birmingham
1. In an aktograph at 25.5°C., at upwards of 75% relative humidity and with food present, the average locomotory activity of the cockroach per day does not depend on whether there is continuous light for weeks, or continuous darkness, or a daily alternation of light and darkness.
2. When temperature and humidity do not vary during the day and other factors are kept as constant as possible, the cockroach's activity can be largely concentrated into any desired half of the day, simply by suitably adjusting the time of onset of the half-day's darkness. A rhythm can thus be set up, so that the main activity occurs at the same hours each day.
3. This activity rhythm persists for some days in continuous light or continuous darkness, but eventually activity becomes much more evenly spread over the whole day, leaving only a slight residual rhythm which is unrelated to the previous conspicuous one. A new conspicuous rhythm can then be started at once by alternation of light and darkness.
4. There are indications that animal responses to physical stimuli may depend to a considerable extent on whether the animal is in the active or the inactive phase of its daily cycle. A method is suggested for making it possible to study the nocturnal phase during the daytime.
Submitted on January 2, 1940
