The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
_Blaberus_ sp. and _Epilampra?_ sp., Panama (Thaxter, 1902, 1908).
_Epilampra_ sp., Saint Kitts, B.W.I., and Haiti (Thaxter, 1902, 1908).
_Leucophaea maderae_, Fernando Po (Spegazzini, 1915).
_Nauphoeta cinerea_, Brazil (Thaxter, 1931).
Cockroaches, China? (Thaxter, 1902); Philippine Islands, Mindanao
(Thaxter, 1931).
_Experimental hosts._--_Blaberus craniifer_, U.S.A. (Richards and Smith,
1955).
Infections on the antennae. Richards and Smith (1954) were unable to
secure experimental infections in _L. maderae_ with _H. tricuspidatus_.
Experiments with _N. cinerea_ showed some development but no mature
plants although identification of the growing fungus was uncertain
because of simultaneous exposure to _H. ectobiae_, _H. stylopygae_, and
_H. tricuspidatus_.
=Herpomyces zanzibarinus= Thaxter
_Natural hosts._--_Eurycotis manni_, Brazil (Thaxter, 1931): On
antennae.
_Gyna_ sp.?, Isle of Nias (Spegazzini, 1915): On antennae.
Cockroach, Zanzibar (Thaxter, 1902): On antennae.
=INCERTAE SEDIS=
According to Dr. R. K. Benjamin (personal communication, 1957) and Dr.
E. G. Simmons (personal communication, 1957), the phylogenetic position
of the following genus is uncertain.
=Amphoromorpha blattina= Thaxter
_Natural hosts._--Cockroaches, Grenada, B.W.I. (Thaxter, 1920): On the
axis of the antennae of a dark wingless and a pale winged blattid.
=Amphoromorpha= sp.
_Natural host._--Cockroach, Grenada, B.W.I. (Thaxter, 1920): On antennal
setae.
IX. HIGHER PLANTS
The significance of many observed associations between cockroaches and
the higher plants is still obscure. Undoubtedly many associations are
ecological, but lack of adequate supporting evidence makes this
conclusion somewhat tentative. The ecological aspects are covered in
Section III (p. 14). Other associations may be accidental (e.g., certain
unique observations that have never again been confirmed). In the
absence of contrary evidence, most associations are presumed to be
benign; exceptions to this conclusion are found among the cockroaches
that feed on living plants (p. 162) and those allegedly captured as prey
by the carnivorous pitcher plants (_Sarracenia_ and _Nepenthes_). In all
the records cited below the cockroaches were stated to have been on, in,
or feeding on the plant.
The plants are listed below by family according to the taxonomic
arrangement of Lawrence (1951). Botanical nomenclature follows Bailey
(1925), Fernald (1950), or Dr. R. A. Howard (personal communications,
1958, 1959). We take full responsibility for referring to appropriate
taxa certain plants that were reported by common name only in the cited
literature.
Division PTERIDOPHYTA
Family CYATHEACEAE
=Alsophila= sp.
_Associate._--_Pycnoscelus surinamensis_, Louisiana (Anonymous, 1893):
Feeding on heart of tree fern.
Family POLYPODIACEAE
=Asplenium nidus= Linnaeus
_Associate._--_Comptolampra liturata_, Malaya (Karny, 1924): Often found
between dry foliage of the beakers of this fern.
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