The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
_Natural hosts._--_Blattella germanica_, Brazil, Distrito Federal
(Gomes, 1941): In the English summary of his paper, Gomes states that
_C. merceti_ var. _falsicornis_ was reared from _B. germanica_. However,
in the body of the paper, he states that the _supposed_ origin of the
parasite was the oötheca of _B. germanica_. Burks (personal
communication, 1956) does not believe that this wasp parasitizes the
eggs of _B. germanica_. We (unpublished data, 1957) exposed six oöthecae
of _B. germanica_ to _C. merceti_. In order to retard water loss the
oöthecae were removed from the females by cutting the insects in two so
that each oötheca remained attached to the posterior part of the
abdomen. No wasps developed in these oöthecae.
_Supella supellectilium_, U.S.A., Kansas (Lawson, 1954a); Hawaii
(Zimmerman, 1944; Compere, 1946; Keck, 1951).
_Adult behavior._--Males and nonovipositing females showed a flea-like
jumping tendency. Adults were attracted to light and were found near
windows. Both sexes pursued an erratic course in walking and continually
touched the surface with their antennae. (Lawson, 1954a.)
_Oviposition._--The wasp (pl. 34, B) selected a site on an oötheca with
the sheath of her ovipositor; it was uncertain whether there was a
definite preference for oviposition sites. Wasp tended to choose a
nearly horizontal position for oviposition. She preferred to oviposit
into eggs about 2 weeks old, although she would place eggs in oöthecae
less than a week old and in embryos in the green band stage. There were
1-50 oviposition punctures per oötheca. (Lawson, 1954a.)
_Development._--If enough wasp larvae were present, they ate all eggs in
an oötheca. Occasionally wasps developed in one end of an oötheca while
cockroaches developed in the other; when this occurred, the cockroach
nymphs always emerged last. The developmental period was 30-41 days at
room temperature. There were 5-25 parasites per oötheca. The single exit
hole in the oötheca varied from 0.6 to 0.9 mm. in diameter. (Lawson,
1954a.)
_Distribution._--U.S.A.: New Jersey south to Florida, west to Illinois,
Kansas, and Arizona. West Indies; Central and South America; Hawaii.
(Burks, personal communication, 1956.)
=Dicarnosis alfierii= Mercet
_Natural hosts._--"_Phyllodromia_" sp., Egypt (Mercet, 1930): According
to Mercet, Dr. Alfieri claimed that this wasp parasitized one of the
species of "_Phyllodromia_" found in Egypt, namely, _Phyllodromia_
[= _Blattella_] _germanica_, _Phyllodromia_ [= _Supella_] _supellectilium_
and/or _Phyllodromia treitliana_. We do not know to which modern genus
the host of this wasp belonged.
Cockroach, Egypt? (Mercet in Compere, 1938.)
=Eutrichosomella blattophaga= Girault
_Natural host._--Cockroach, Australia, Queensland (Girault, 1915).
Family EUPELMIDAE[7]
=Anastatus blattidifurax= Girault
_Natural host._--Cockroach, Australia, Queensland (Girault, 1915).
=Anastatus floridanus= Roth and Willis
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