All species of cockroaches exhibit very distinct mating behaviors to ensure that they have sufficient access to mates. Elaborate mating displays have been carefully observed in laboratory studies. Wing flapping, waving of the abdomen, exposing abdominal sexual glands (tergites), nibbling, aggressive fighting, and hissing are involved during male courtship of the female. Tactics of sexual mimicry have also been observed in various species of cockroaches while they attempt to acquire partners. When normal mating rituals prove to be unsuccessful, the male will use alternative methods that involve deception in order to copulate. One of the benefits of this intraspecific (i.e., mating within its own species) mimicry for the males is that it provides easier access to the population of sexually receptive females. When the females observe this mimicry, they welcome the female mimic and become more receptive to it for they think it is an individual belonging to their own sex. This in turn gives the female mimic a chance to approach the female, which allows successful reproduction to occur between the two sexes. These mating habits are utilized more when the males are at a certain disadvantage. One particular example is the competition over food resources. Females have the ability to access specific territories. Once the male mimics the females’ behavior, he will also have that same access to the food resources, perhaps to nuptial gifts, and later on to the females themselves. Studies have shown that these deceptions can lead to the males having priority over some of the larger territories belonging to other males. This also allows the smaller cockroaches to steal nuptial gifts from the larger territorial males. Once these are obtained, they can use them to present as gifts to the females in order to initiate copulation. There are studies looking at this in even more detail to determine if these tactics have any other biological significance