The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
_Commensal._--_Attaphila bergi_, or possibly a variety of this species,
San Luis Province, Argentina (Bruch, 1916): According to Bruch, the
behavior of this species of _Attaphila_ is identical with the one
encountered in Huasán in the nests of _Acromyrmex lobicornis_ Emery; it
differed from _A. bergi_ in size and color.
=Atta cephalotes= (Linnaeus)
_Commensal._--_Attaphila fungicola_, British Guiana (Wheeler, 1928):
Taken in the fungus gardens of the ant.
_Attaphila_ sp., British Guiana (Beebe, 1921): 7 of 12 queens in one
nest had cockroaches hanging on them.
=Atta sexdens= (Linnaeus)
_Commensal._--_Attaphila sexdentis_, Brazil, San Leopoldo (Bolívar,
1905): Found in nests of the ant.
=Atta texana= (Buckley)
_Synonymy._--_Atta fervens_ Say [Wheeler, 1910].
_Commensal._--_Attaphila fungicola_, U.S.A., Texas (Wheeler, 1900,
1910): The cockroach does not feed on the fungus in the ants' nest, as
Wheeler (1900) first supposed, but mounts the back of the soldiers and
licks their surfaces. It is tolerated by the ants with no signs of
hostility. The antennae of the cockroach are clipped short. Although
Wheeler (1910) stated that this is probably accidental or unintentional,
it is peculiar that Bolívar (1905) noticed the same invariable
mutilation of the antennae of _Attaphila bergi_. Wheeler (1900) had
originally suggested that the antennae were probably clipped off by the
ants which are continuously trimming the fungus hyphae. Louisiana
(Moser, personal communication, 1959): Numerous specimens were
encountered in some nests of _A. texana_. This cockroach is the most
closely associated inquiline in the nest and maintains very intimate
terms with the ants. It is found living in the fungus cavities and
tunnels.
=Crematogaster limata parabiotica= Forel
_Commensal._--_Phorticolea boliviae_, Bolivia, Cachuela Esperanza
(Caudell, 1923): Collected in joint nests of _C. limata_ and _Componotus
femoratus_.
=Solenopsis geminata= (Fabricius)
_Commensal._--_Myrmecoblatta wheeleri_, Guatemala (Hebard, 1917a):
Collected from a colony of this ant under a stone on the shores of Lake
Atitlan, altitude 11,719 feet.
=Unknown host=
_Cockroach._--_Attaphila flava_, British Honduras (Gurney, 1937):
Because the known hosts of the other five species of _Attaphila_ are
ants, we presume that this species also lives in the nest of some
myrmecine ant.
Subfamily PONERINAE
=Odontomachus affinis= (Guérin)
_Commensal._--_Myrmeblattina longipes_, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (Chopard,
1924, 1924a; Hancock, 1926): Originally described as _Phileciton
longipes_ by Chopard (1924) from the nest of an ant mistakenly
identified as _Eciton_ sp.
Family VESPIDAE
=Polybia pygmaea= Fabricius
_Commensal._--_Sphecophila polybiarum_, French Guiana (Shelford, 1906a):
Shelford stated that it was probable that the cockroaches living on the
floor of the paper nest fed on small fragments of insects and spiders
that were dropped by the wasp larvae feeding in the cells above.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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