Many cockroach species court each other before mating. Often, the female begins courtship by releasing pheromones that attract males. She may also do a "calling" display, dropping her tail and exposing her abdomen. A male called in by a female touches antennae with her, which in some species starts an elaborate interaction. For example, Honduran cockroaches (Latiblattella sp.) circle around each other, head to tail, pressing together. Turning his tail end to the female, the male lifts his wings to expose glands on his abdomen that release male pheromones. Straddling the male, the female licks his abdomen, moving up towards his head until their tail ends connect. In other species, courtship is minimal, with the male just backing his tail end into the female for copulation, which may take an hour or more. Once fertilized, females typically make egg cases (ootheca), and either brood internally or deposit them in a warm, humid place for hatching.

An insect has a brain, connected to bundles of nerves (ganglia) in each of its three body segments. Like us, they have sensory nerves that receive information from their environment and send it to the brain. Information comes from many types of touch receptors. Touch-sensitive hairs all over an insect's body are sensitive enough to detect vibrations in the air, such as from an approaching predator. Insect hairs also do chemical detection (chemoreception). Pores at the end of chemoreceptors on mouthparts or other body parts allow odors to reach the nervous system. Insect antennae may have thousands of chemoreceptors, used to detect chemicals in the air (pheromones) emitted by members of the opposite sex. An insect, like us, has a pair of eyes on its head. But, insect eyes are compound, with hundreds or thousands of lenses, together making an image consisting of spots of light, like pixels. An insect's sound receptors are on its legs.