Stridulation by the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea during courtship behaviour

Males of Nauphoeta cinerea stridulate when they court non-receptive females. The stridulating apparatus consists of parallel striae on the lateroposterior margins of the pronotum and on the proximal region of the costal veins of the tegmina. The sound is produced by posterior, anterior, and side-to-side displacement of the pronotum rubbing against the costal veins. Phrases usually consist of two to six complex pulse trains followed by a long series of disyllabic chirps, and they are linked to form sentences lasting as long as 3 min. The song consists of a broad band of frequencies up to about 15 kHz with intensities of 55 to 65 dB, re 0 dB = 0·0002 dyn/cm2, at 1 cm.