Temperature-Dependent Tethered Locomotion Behavior in the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Using a Controlled-Environment Treadmill Platform with Exploratory Illumination Assays

Quantitative analysis of insect locomotion is important for understanding how environmental variables shape behavioral output and for developing reproducible experimental paradigms in neuroethology and biohybrid research. In this study, locomotor responses of the Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) were evaluated across a thermal range from 18 to 38 °C using an integrated low-cost platform combining a spherical treadmill motion-tracking system with synchronized environmental regulation of temperature and illumination. The results suggest a possible non-linear relationship between chamber temperature and locomotor activity. Thermal conditions below the programmed 30 °C chamber temperature were generally associated with higher cumulative activity and elevated peak activity-rate values but not low inactivity proportions. In contrast, higher temperatures were associated with more fragmented locomotor patterns characterized by preserved peak activity but increased inactivity proportions. Complementary repeated-measures illumination assays suggested preliminary UV-associated shifts in locomotor output under the tested treadmill conditions. Together, these findings provide a quantitative framework for studying environmentally modulated locomotion in G. portentosa.