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General discussionDo cockroaches have memory?(53 posts)(53 posts)
(53 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 03, 2016
nes is a proof that they have memory
Posted July 03, 2016
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BlackThorny: Some say even Dogs have none (I disagree), just plain thoughts and instincts,
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timppu: What??? Who says that? Some cat lover?
Yep. That is an outrageous thing to say. You can't train an animal with no memory. And yet we have dogs helping blind people, shepherds, fire fighters, the police, fishermen, hunters, guards and many more people.
Hey, they even need to recognize their offspring to care for them, to find where they have buried their bones, return to their home...

Even bees have memory! Probably even ants have it.

What would be an animal without memory? A jellyfish or a sponge. They have no central nervous system.
Posted July 03, 2016
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Gede: What would be an animal without memory?
That reminds me of a friend who raised an orphaned crow. She was genuinely surprised how clever and teachable it was, learning on its own how to operate lights with switches etc.

I also raised some orphaned little bird (I don't even know for sure what it was, some sparrow or whatever), it definitely could recognize me after I had been able to integrate it back to nature. Its "bird instincts" were also way off due to being raised by a human, e.g. I had once put seeds on the porch. I didn't know the birds were eating there when I stormed out of the door.

All the other birds instantly flew away in a hurry... except one (my bird), who just seemed puzzled why all his/her bird friends flew away when I came to the scene. Just goes to show their sense of danger is learned, not a mere instinct.
Post edited July 03, 2016 by timppu
Posted July 03, 2016
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timppu: Just goes to show their sense of danger is learned, not a mere instinct.
No, that's simplistic to reach that conclusion.

Their sense of danger can be both learned and instinctual.
Posted July 03, 2016
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timppu: Just goes to show their sense of danger is learned, not a mere instinct.
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Kleetus: No, that's simplistic to reach that conclusion.

Their sense of danger can be both learned and instinctual.
True, same as with humans. But at least it goes to show that learning plays a big part there, eclipsing any potential "instinct" to fear humans for example.
Posted July 04, 2016
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Kleetus: No, that's simplistic to reach that conclusion.

Their sense of danger can be both learned and instinctual.
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timppu: True, same as with humans. But at least it goes to show that learning plays a big part there, eclipsing any potential "instinct" to fear humans for example.
In the cities I lived in, we have to be careful not to kick the pigeons. However, throw in a cat or a bird of prey, and you can see them taking flight and performing evasive manoeuvres in flock. It is quite curious.
Posted July 04, 2016
I don't know the answer, but I remember I read somewhere that, in case of a nuclear conflict that would wipe out the entire human race, cockroaches would survive the fallout and take over the earth.
Posted July 04, 2016
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Gede: However, throw in a cat or a bird of prey, and you can see them taking flight and performing evasive manoeuvres in flock. It is quite curious.
Cats are used as a final host for a mind-altering parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (it can only reproduce in cats).

It uses rats/mice as an intermediary host, then alters their behaviour so the rat can get eaten and the parasite can enter the cat to reproduce.

There's a YouTube video where they placed two boxes at each end of the room.

One was sprayed in cat urine, the other in rat urine.

Two lots of rats were then released, infected and uninfected.

All the ones without the parasite ran straight for the box with rat urine and hid terrified.

All the ones with the parasite were seeking out the cat urine and smell.

Absolutely incredible that a tiny organism can do that.
Posted July 04, 2016
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cose_vecchie: I don't know the answer, but I remember I read somewhere that, in case of a nuclear conflict that would wipe out the entire human race, cockroaches would survive the fallout and take over the earth.
That's not entirely true, though in the case of nuclear war it might be.

Cockroaches have one Achilles Heal: COLD. They can't survive in what we would consider even mildly cold temperatures, well above freezing.

Now if Nuclear Fallout turns then entire planet into an oven then I guess they will be okay, but if the climate were to stay anywhere near where it is now, they would be toast in the northern half of the northern hemisphere and the southern half of the southern hemisphere.
Post edited July 04, 2016 by tinyE
Posted July 04, 2016
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cose_vecchie: I don't know the answer, but I remember I read somewhere that, in case of a nuclear conflict that would wipe out the entire human race, cockroaches would survive the fallout and take over the earth.
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tinyE: That's not entirely true, though in the case of nuclear war it might be.

Cockroaches have one Achilles Heal: COLD. They can't survive in what we would consider even mildly cold temperatures, well above freezing.

Now if Nuclear Fallout turns then entire planet into an oven then I guess they will be okay, but if the climate were to stay anywhere near where it is now, they would be toast in the northern half of the northern hemisphere and the southern half of the southern hemisphere.
Hmmmm... That's why cockroaches aren't a problem in Estonia.... Is cold, also dark and potato have gone soft and squishy
Posted July 04, 2016
So bro, are you having trouble with cockroaches? Don't worry anymore, your problems are over. Just call this guy and he'll take care of them.
Post edited July 04, 2016 by cose_vecchie
Posted July 04, 2016
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noir_7: Journey of a Roach ;)
Posted July 04, 2016
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Kleetus: Cats are used as a final host for a mind-altering parasite, Toxoplasma gondii
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All the ones with the parasite were seeking out the cat urine and smell.
I know folks who started with one cat and ended up having more cats than people in the house, made the house decor all cat-themed and got a large cat-themed tattoo. This mind-altering parasite probably affects people too.
Posted July 04, 2016
Sweet jesus.. I hope not.
Posted July 04, 2016
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BlackThorny: I would assume definitely No,
I wouldn't assume anything on that end, at the moment, given what we learn about animal behaviour and capabilities lately.

There's suggestions that honey bees have a rudimentary sense of self, for example - and likely other insects too.

By and by nothing we do as humans is likely special - nature works through refinement and co-evolution; given how much of an advantage having memory is, it seems unlikely other species haven't in some form or other achieved similar evolutionary advantages.

We still don't know a lot about how animals work, mentally. Even on a physiological level there's a lot to uncover. See that we only recently figured out how and why bird brains are so much more efficient on a mass/function level than our mammalian brain structures. [Bird brain ought to be a compliment from here on.]
Post edited July 04, 2016 by Mnemon
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Community
General discussionDo cockroaches have memory?(53 posts)(53 posts)
(53 posts)