The cuticle of cockroaches allows temperature-controlled variability of moisture loss via a waxy coat.

“It was shown by Ramsay (1935) that the cockroach owes its impermeability to water to a thin and apparently mobile layer of lipoid on its surface. At a critical temperature of about 30° C. this lipoid seems to undergo a change of phase, and it then allows water to pass freely through it. This interesting observation has never been confirmed on other insects. It forms the starting-point of the present study.” (Wigglesworth 1945:97)

Last Updated September 14, 2016