The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
McCook (1877) excavated in February a nest of _Formica rufa_ in
Pennsylvania. A hundred or more lively cockroaches occupied a part of
the nest that contained few ants. Near the cockroaches McCook also found
a colony of _Termes flavipes_. _Ischnoptera deropeltiformis_ has been
found in the company of ants, but it is probably not myrmecophilous
(Donisthorpe, 1900). Mann (1911) found an "_Ischnoptera_" sp. (probably
a species of _Parcoblatta_) abundant in the nests of, and tolerated by,
_Camponotus maccooki_ Forel in California. Dead and mutilated specimens
of this cockroach were common in the nests of "Formicas."
"_Ischnoptera_" sp. was also common in the nests of _Veromessor andrei_
(Mayr) [= _Stenamma andrei_]. Hebard (1917) reported that W. M. Wheeler
collected _Eremoblatta subdiaphana_ in Arizona as an ant guest. Rehn
(1906a; Rehn and Hebard, 1927) reported that _Pholadoblatta inusitata_
had also been taken by Wheeler from the galleries of a jumping ant,
_Odontomachus clarus_ Roger [= _O. haematodes insularis_ Guérin var.
_pallens_ Wheeler; Brown (personal communication, 1958)], on Andros
Island, Bahamas; Rehn and Hebard (1927) stated that "This genus and
species is the only blattid, which is presumably a myrmecophile, known
from the West Indies." Rehn (1932a) reported _Dendroblatta sobrina_ as
taken in an ant nest in a tree in the Amazon Basin. _Tivia australica_
was taken in an ant nest in Australia (Princis, 1954). The male of
_Compsodes schwarzi_ was taken in an ant nest in the Santa Rita
Mountains of Arizona (Ball et al., 1942). A male and female of
_Stilpnoblatta minuta_ were taken in a migrating column of the ant
_Myrmicaria natalensis_ Sm. subsp. _eumenoides_ Gerst. in Nyasaland
(Princis, 1949). Princis cautioned that it is premature to derive any
inference from this, possibly accidental, association. Four females of
_Parcoblatta desertae_ were taken about a nest of an ant, _Ischnomyrmex_
sp. (Hebard, 1943a). A nymph of _Parcoblatta virginica_ was found in a
nest of _Formica_ sp. (Hauke, 1949).
_Chorisoneura texensis_ has been found in nests of webworm in Florida
(Rehn and Hebard, 1916). Karny (1924) in Malaya found an oötheca of
_Aristiger histrio_ (sp.?) between leaves (_Costus_ sp.) that had been
stuck together by a thysanopteron, _Anaphothrips_ sp. He pointed out
that the oötheca would not adhere to leaves that were not stuck together
but would fall to the ground.
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