The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
Parker and Thompson (1928) called their hyperparasite _Tetrastichus_ sp.
However, Dr. B. D. Burks (personal communication, 1955) has examined the
teneral specimens which Parker and Thompson deposited in the U.S.
National Museum; he stated that the species is apparently
_Syntomosphyrum ischnopterae_. In view of the experimental work by
Parker and Thompson (see below), this wasp may prove to be a
hyperparasite on evaniids in cockroach oöthecae rather than a primary
parasite on cockroach eggs. (See _Zeuxevania splendidula_, p. 243.)
_Natural hosts._--_Ischnoptera_ sp. [probably _Parcoblatta_ sp. (Rehn,
personal communication, 1958)]. U.S.A., Maryland (Girault, 1917).
_Zeuxevania splendidula_ Costa (an evaniid in the oöthecae of _Loboptera
decipiens_), France (Parker, 1924; Parker and Thompson, 1928).
The following information is from Parker and Thompson (1928): _Adult
behavior._--Courtship and mating were accomplished as soon as adults
emerged, and in a manner similar to that in other chalcids. The females
oviposited only into oöthecae that were parasitized by _Zeuxevania_,
never into normal, nonparasitized oöthecae. _Oviposition._--Oviposition
occurred two days after mating. The female wasp stroked the oötheca with
her antennae, selected a site, and bored into the oötheca with her
ovipositor. She inserted the ovipositor deeply and oviposited for 10-30
minutes. The eggs were deposited randomly on the evaniid larva, some
upright and others lying down. _Development._--Eggs of the hyperparasite
hatched within 3 days and the larvae commenced feeding on the host
larva. There were 30 and 50 hyper-parasites in two oöthecae. _Sex
ratio._--5 [F][F]:1 [M] (from 3 oöthecae).
_Distribution._--U.S.A., District of Columbia, Maryland (Burks, 1952).
=Tetrastichus australasiae= Gahan
_Natural host._--_Periplaneta australasiae_, Sumatra (Gahan, 1923).
=Tetrastichus hagenowii= (Ratzeburg)
_Synonymy._--_Entedon hagenowii_ Ratzeburg, _Blattotetrastichus
hagenowii_ (Ratzeburg) [Burks, 1943]. _Tetrastichodes asthenogmus_
Waterston. G. J. Kerrich (personal communication, 1957) compared the
type of _Tetrastichodes asthenogmus_ Waterston with authentically
determined material of _Tetrastichus hagenowii_ and concluded that _T.
asthenogmus_ is only a weakly developed specimen of _T. hagenowii_. He
stated, "The longitudinal dorsal grooves of the scutellum, which are
strongly developed in normal _hagenowii_, are only rather faintly
developed in Waterston's type and also the second specimen, which was
dissected and mounted on a series of ten microscope slides. No doubt it
was this faint development that caused Waterston to describe the species
in _Tetrastichodes_, a segregate that has since been recognized by Dr.
Burks (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1943) as being not truly generically
distinct from _Tetrastichus_."
_Natural hosts._--_Blatta orientalis_, Seychelles (Ratzeburg, 1852);
India (Usman, 1949).
_Blatta_ sp., U.S.A., Louisiana (Gahan, 1914).
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