The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
Pierce (1909) predicted that the Blattoidea and the Grylloidea would be
the only groups of the Orthoptera which would be parasitized by
Strepsiptera. Essig (1926) made the statement that certain cockroaches
are among the hosts of Strepsiptera. E. F. Riek (personal communication,
1952) found a strepsipteron in a late nymph of _Cutilia_ sp. from
Waroona, Western Australia; he wrote us, "The female parasite is
extruded between a pair of sternites towards the base of the abdomen and
appears to belong to the family Halictophagidae." This is the only
record that we have been able to find of a strepsipteron parasitizing
cockroaches.
Order HYMENOPTERA
PREDATORS AND PARASITES OF COCKROACH EGGS
Wasps from at least six families of Hymenoptera have been recorded as
developing on cockroach eggs. All the Evaniidae are presumed to be
parasitic in the egg capsules of cockroaches (Clausen, 1940; Townes,
1951), although hosts for many of the described species have yet to be
discovered. The presence of evaniids in dwellings indicates the presence
of cockroaches (Gross, 1950). At times these wasps may become a
nuisance; a family in Worthington, Ohio, complained of the evaniid wasps
that they found on the windows and in other areas of their home, but
they were apparently not annoyed by the oriental cockroaches in the
basement (Edmunds, 1953).
The known parasites of cockroach eggs are listed below with summaries of
their biology.
Family EVANIIDAE
=Acanthinevania princeps= (Westwood)
_Synonymy._--_Evania princeps_ [Dr. H. Townes, personal communication,
1956].
_Natural host._--Cockroach eggs, Australia (Froggatt, 1906).
=Brachygaster minutus= (Olivier)
_Synonymy._--_Evania minuta_ Olivier [Kieffer, 1920].
_Natural hosts._--_Blattella germanica_, Europe? (Schletterer, 1889;
Kiefer, 1912; Crosskey, 1951.)
_Ectobius lapponicus_, Europe? (Schletterer, 1889; Kieffer, 1912;
Crosskey, 1951.)
_Ectobius panzeri_ var. _nigripes_? Great Britain (Blair, 1952): This is
a presumptive record. The wasp was collected at Niton and Headon Hill,
Isle of Wight, an area in which this variety of _E. panzeri_ was the
only species of cockroach known to occur.
_Ectobius_ sp., England (Cameron, 1955, 1957): Natural History Museum
records.
Adult wasps have been collected on _Asparagus officinalis_ Linnaeus
(Schmiedeknecht _in_ Schletterer, 1889; Crosskey, 1951). Thompson's
(1951) citation of records of _B. minutus_ and _Evania appendigaster_
from _Blatta orientalis_ and _Blattella germanica_, and Cameron's (1957)
citation of these records and one from _Ectobius lapponicus_, all
attributed to Kadocsa (1921), are almost certainly in error. Kadocsa
(1921, p. 33) listed these wasps as egg parasites of cockroaches but not
necessarily in Hungary and did not name specific cockroach hosts.
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