The Biotic Associations of CockroachesRoth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Science
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Roth, Louis M. (Louis Marcus)
Cockroaches; Insects -- Ecology
With most of us collectors the life history of an insect begins in
the net and ends in the bottle.
HANITSCH (1928)
I. INTRODUCTION
Recently we brought together much of the literature linking cockroaches
with the transmission of certain organisms that cause disease in man and
other vertebrates. In that paper (1957a) we concluded that cockroaches,
being potential vectors of pathogenic agents, should not be regarded
simply as minor annoyances. Obviously the associations of cockroaches
with agents of vertebrate diseases are of more immediate importance than
their relations with pathogens of lower animals or with nonpathogens. On
the other hand, cockroaches are of general economic as well as medical
importance, and their control is sought by many who are unaware of their
medical significance. That the control of domiciliary cockroaches is far
from satisfactory may be inferred from current entomological and
pest-control journals in which new insecticides are continually
advocated to replace others found to be inadequate. Possibly new
approaches to the control of cockroaches are needed. Whether these lie
in the direction of increased use of parasites and predators for the
biological control of these insects remains to be seen. In any event,
the more we know about any insect, especially its ecology, the greater
the likelihood of achieving satisfactory control. In order to advance
knowledge in any field of science, new research should proceed from the
results of prior investigations when these exist. We hope that the
observations and experiments cited herein may suggest areas for future
research and exploitation.
To the best of our knowledge no previous publication has brought
together the vast literature on the parasites, predators, commensals,
and other symbiotic associates of the Blattaria. For this reason, we
have tried to assemble observations on all such known associations.
Undoubtedly we have overlooked some records, as, for example, those
buried in papers dealing with other phases of cockroach biology. We hope
that such inadvertent omissions will not seriously impair the usefulness
of this compilation. Whatever its defects, this review should be a
unified source of information for all who are interested in the biotic
associates of cockroaches.
In addition to previously published information, this monograph also
contains original records and observations on the associations of
cockroaches that are reported here for the first time. Although some of
the observations were made by us, others were made by colleagues who
have graciously made their knowledge available to us in private
communications.
HISTORICAL
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