The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
Gregarious groupings of cockroaches have been observed most frequently
among the domiciliary species. A few examples will suffice. Gal'kov
(1926) observed heavy infestations of undetermined cockroaches in
workers' living quarters in the Ural region: "In the corners near the
stove, the cockroaches covered the walls in a dense carpet." After
fumigating he collected about 135,000 dead cockroaches from one barracks
and about 475,000 from another. We have reviewed a few other examples of
heavy infestations in our 1957(a) paper.
_Periplaneta americana_ was observed by Gould and Deay (1938) in an old
meat-packing building in Indiana. Adult cockroaches were present in
large numbers between closely placed beams, but the nymphs were more
common in cracks between bricks. Clusters of several hundred cockroaches
were seen on the open walls of the cold, dark hide room. Gould and Deay
stated "American roaches of all sizes live together in perfect harmony.
Young nymphs have been noted in clusters underneath adults and crawling
over the adults as they wander about in rearing jars." In the monkey
house of the Hamburg zoo, _P. americana_ spent most of the day in the
cellars resting on the walls in groups of about 200 individuals
(Brecher, 1929). Lederer (1952) noted that in closed, dark, heated
spaces under the aquarium at Frankfurt am Main, _P. americana_ rested in
groups of 20 to 30 individuals; he stated that it was remarkable that
the "herd" divided itself into groups each of which usually contained
insects of the same age or stage of development. Eads (1954) found _P.
americana_ in 40 percent of 762 sewer manholes in Tyler, Tex.; 13
percent of 670 of these manholes were heavily infested with 100 or more
cockroaches in each. Other heavy sewer infestations have been reviewed
in our 1957(a) paper.
Ehrlich (1943) has stated that _Periplaneta americana_ exhibits social
behavior. For instance, cockroaches of various ages inhabit a fairly
large space jointly; the adults and older nymphs sense approaches with
their antennae and warn and protect the young by a beating of wings and
by body movements. There is complete utilization of the available living
space; the imagos drive older nymphs from their resting places, and the
older nymphs drive out the younger ones, until all cracks, depending on
their size, are occupied by various age groups of different sizes. In
his experiments Ehrlich observed that in cages with no hiding places the
cockroaches would group together; when given a choice of small and large
shelters, _P. americana_ hid only under the larger ones that could
shelter more insects. Finally, the cockroaches ceased to bite and fight
each other when they crowded together in the face of danger.
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