Surprise: Cockroaches are Fastidious Groomers!

NPR | Feb. 22, 2013 10:03 a.m.

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Despite inhabiting sewers and cesspools, cockroaches are quite clean — or at least their exteriors are, according to entomologist Coby Schal of North Carolina State University. That's because cockroaches are constantly grooming themselves, particularly their antennae. Publishing in PNAS, Schal and colleagues investigate why they groom.