The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
_Blatta orientalis_, U.S.A., Massachusetts (Thaxter, 1902, 1908);
Locality? (Spegazzini, 1915); France? (Picard, 1913).
_Periplaneta americana_, Bermuda and U.S.A., Massachusetts (Thaxter,
1902, 1908); Plains of Biajar, Italian Somaliland, and Argentina
(Spegazzini, 1915, 1917).
_Periplaneta australasiae_, Bermuda (Thaxter, 1902, 1908).
_Periplaneta brunnea_, Brazil (Thaxter, 1931).
_Periplaneta_ sp., Mexico, West Indies, Panama, Brazil, Africa, South
Seas, and China (Thaxter, 1902, 1908).
Cockroaches, Belgium (Collart, 1947).
Additional locality records: Grenada, Trinidad, B.W.I., and Tangier
(Thaxter, 1931).
The fungus was found growing on spines, tegmina, integument, and
antennae, at times abundantly.
_Experimental hosts._--All the following data are from Richards and
Smith (1954):
_Blatta orientalis_: A few plants matured.
_Neostylopyga rhombifolia_: Some development but no mature plants.
_Periplaneta americana_: Fungus developed prolifically with a density
equal to that on original host.
_Periplaneta australasiae_: Some development but no mature plants.
_Periplaneta brunnea_: Fungus developed prolifically with a density
equal to that on original host.
=Herpomyces phyllodromiae= Thaxter
_Natural host._--"_Phyllodromia_" sp., Abyssinia (Thaxter, 1905, 1908):
On antennae.
=Herpomyces platyzosteriae= Thaxter
_Natural host._--"_Eurycotis floridana_," Mexico (Thaxter, 1905, 1908):
On antennal setae.
Since this cockroach is not found in Mexico (J. A. G. Rehn, personal
communication, 1957), _E. floridana_ is undoubtedly not the host for
this fungus. W. B. Brown (personal communication, 1957) searched the
cockroach collection at the Museum of Comparative Zoology but was unable
to find Thaxter's insect for reidentification.
=Herpomyces stylopygae= Spegazzini
_Natural hosts._--_Blatta orientalis_, Argentina (Spegazzini, 1917);
U.S.A. (Richards and Smith, 1955a).
_Experimental hosts._--_Neostylopyga rhombifolia_ (Richards and Smith,
1954): A few plants matured.
_Pycnoscelus surinamensis_ (Richards and Smith, 1954): Some development
but no mature plants.
The fungus (fig. 1) is found on antennae (pl. 27, B, C), palpi, cerci,
and femurs. Thaxter (1931) believed _H. stylopygae_ to be synonymous
with _H. periplanetae_. However, Richards and Smith (1954) concluded
that _H. stylopygae_ would not grow on _P. americana_ under their
laboratory conditions although _H. periplanetae_ would grow on _B.
orientalis_. This indicated a strain or species difference between the
two fungi. Gunn and Cosway (1938) reported a species of _Stigmatomyces_
on the antennae of _B. orientalis_; this fungus was probably _H.
stylopygae_ (Richards and Smith, 1956).
=Herpomyces supellae= (Thaxter)
_Natural host._--_Supella supellectilium_, Trinidad (Thaxter, 1931): On
antennal spines.
=Herpomyces tricuspidatus= Thaxter
_Natural hosts._--_Blaberus craniifer_, U.S.A., Key West (Richards and
Smith, 1955).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account