We aren’t really gonna talk about getting cockroaches high. That’s what Mexican folk music is for. Instead, we bring you a tale of peer pressure, that mythic force that can turn an innocent youth into a drug addled maniac. A force so powerful it can only be overcome by the most clever of comebacks. See for yourself:

It turns out that cockroaches also succumb to peer pressure. The roaches were pressured by decoy roaches, small robots whose cologne had been exchanged for cockroach sex hormones.

They set up a cockroach arena one yard in diameter. Two six-inch-wide plastic disks were suspended over it, providing the dark shelters that cockroaches prefer to congregate in. But one disk was darker and a more likely cockroach hangout.

When 16 cockroaches were placed in the arena, they naturally gravitated toward the darker disk, following what the researchers believe is an internal calculation of the amount of light and the number of other roaches, finding comfort in company.

Dr. Halloy then replaced four of the cockroaches with four robots equipped with sensors to measure light and the proximity of other robots. When the robots emulated the real roaches, the group continued to seek the dark and crowded place.

When the four robo-roaches were reprogrammed to prefer the lighter disk, however, the real roaches followed them about 60 percent of the time, in essence deferring their own judgment to the popular preference.

I still have to wonder if they’re underestimating the power of sex hormones. Regardless they say they are planning a similar future experiment with a robot chicken. They may wanna talk with Adult Swim first.