Cockroach

“ Podium flavipenne Lepeletier Natural host.—Epilampra abdomen-nigrum, British Guiana (Williams, 1928) : Nesting site.—Burrows, about 2 inches deep and lenticular in cross section, are dug in the ground in well-drained, partly sheltered areas; also old Podium nests are used. Behavior.—The wasp stings the cockroach to helplessness and flies with it back to her nest where the host may recover from the sting; one or more cockroaches are stored per nest; the egg is deposited behind the forecoxa while the cockroach is still outside the burrow. The nest is sealed with mud. ”

“ Very few papers have dealt with the ecology of the oxyurid parasites of cockroaches. According to Galeb (1878) , usually one species of nematode is found in a single cockroach, but sometimes two species live together in the same host (e.g., in Blatta orientalis and Polyphaga aegyptiaca) where they compete for food. Galeb claimed that Hammerschmidtiella diesingi would replace Leidynema appendiculata ”

“ Yet wise men have been very much interested in our poor, ill-smelling old cockroaches, and have studied carefully all about them.
If you dislike to touch the cockroach so much, perhaps you will look at this picture of a croton bug. [Pg 47]
See, the upper wings are different; the cockroach does not fly with them, he merely uses them to cover up the under wings, and we call them wing covers.
It is the under wings the cockroach flies with.
Cockroaches may not be pleasant, but who can say they are not interesting?
What other insect lays its eggs in little bandboxes? ”

“ In 1859 Darwin (1887) stated that "In Russia the small Asiatic cockroach [Blattella germanica?] has everywhere driven before it its great congener [Blatta orientalis?] ." Yet in France Girard (1877) suggested that the oriental cockroach be introduced into a restaurant infested with the German cockroach as the best way to expel the latter, because the more robust species drives away cockroaches of smaller size. Wille (1920) in Germany found usually only one species of cockroach in a house. ”

“ The common cockroach is of a bright brown colour, with long antennæ, and wings exceeding the body in length. They are most destructive creatures, preying indiscriminately upon the contents of the larder, the linen-chest, or the book-case, or upon any insect they can overcome by treachery or open combat, or vary their repasts at times with a taste of the little negroes’ fingers, when they go to-bed with such members in a greasy state. ”

“ At one time I started cockroach culture in a companion box to that of the meal-worms. My mother was resigned, but doubtful about the experiment, and I noticed that the cockroaches all fell victims to some sudden calamity during one of my absences from home.
However, by diligent search, we can usually find two or three around the hot-water pipes at night, and the maid I have taking care of the birds, writes me that she tries hard to get “a Cockroach every Night for the Little Blue Bird.” ”

“ Natural hosts.—Cockroaches, West Africa (Perkins in Sharp, 1899) : Nesting sites are keyholes. Enters apartments in search of cockroaches. Wasp cocoon protrudes from dead body of cockroach.
Ampulex sonnerati Kohl
Synonymy.—"La mouche bleue" of Sonnerat (Kohl, 1893) .
Natural host.—"Kakkerlac," Philippine Islands (Sonnerat, 1776) : Nesting sites are readymade crevices. The wasp seizes the cockroach by an antenna and stings the host many times in the "abdomen." She drags the cockroach by an antenna to the nest, and, after depositing her egg, plugs the opening with moistened earth. ”

“ These flies larviposit on the cockroaches, crickets, and possibly other arthropods that are flushed from cover by the ants. Larvae were found in one (?) cockroach. Larvae from an adult of Calodexia were introduced experimentally into a cockroach and successfully reared.
Undetermined tachinids
Hosts.—Eurycotis floridana, from Florida (Roth, unpublished data, 1953) : Three larvae (det. by W.W. Wirth) were found in a living adult male.
Panesthia australis, from Australia (Roth, unpublished data, 1957) : Reared from a wild-caught cockroach that was maintained in a laboratory colony. ”

“ In British Guiana, Beebe (1925) found that cockroaches were eaten by 27 species of birds.
Reptiles.—H. (1800) claimed that two lizards cleared his house of the "true brown cockroach" and suggested that lizards be used for [Pg 354] cockroach control because the reptiles are docile and harmless. On Arno Atoll geckos and night-feeding skinks eat large numbers of cockroaches (Usinger and La Rivers, 1953) . According to Wolcott (1924) the number of cockroaches eaten by lizards is surprisingly large considering the nocturnal habits of these insects. ”

“ Infective larvae of Protospirura muricola, after hatching from ingested eggs, pass through the cockroach's gut wall and encyst mainly in the thorax, around the crop, and at the bases of the large muscles of the prothoracic legs (Foster and Johnson, 1939) . It is probably generally true that nematodes which are secondary parasites in cockroaches do some damage to the host's intestinal tract at least, and they probably also damage other organs in which they may encyst. ”

“ The female does not spin a web (Bryan, 1915; Gertsch, 1949) . The spider turns the cockroach over onto its back at the instant of seizure and holds it firmly against the substrate. The cockroach dies in 10 minutes and is gradually rolled up by the spider as it sucks out the nutriment (Moore in Williams et al., 1931) . The spider does not attempt to bite when captured, but if it does, its bite is said to be painful but not dangerous (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1953) . Zimmerman (1948) found scores of Periplaneta australasiae breeding in rock piles in Hawaii ”

“ Shuyler (1956) has observed extensions into relatively new structural habitats by Blattella germanica in the north-central area of the United States. A few German cockroaches are now being encountered in living rooms, bedrooms, clothes closets, bedroom furniture, lobbies, entrance halls, checkrooms, nonfood storerooms, nonfood warehouses, and coin-vending machine repair shops. In these situations this species is behaving much like the brown-banded cockroach, Supella supellectilium. ”

“ The identities and biological activities of most cockroach secretions are unknown, but the use of protective chemicals against predators may be widespread among cockroaches. If so, how effective are these repellents in protecting the individual or the species? It is not known whether cockroaches are protected by apparent mimetic resemblances to other arthropods. There is no experimental proof that insect parasites can successfully attack the eggs of cockroaches that incubate their eggs while they are being carried by the female. ”

“ It is well known that the common cockroach eats a variety of peculiar substances; its individuals undoubtedly have the somewhat too economical habit of eating their own cast skins and empty egg-capsules, but in this they only act like many other much admired Insects. S. orientalis is gregarious, and the individuals are very amicable with one another; small specimens sit on, or run over the big individuals, and even nestle under them without their displaying the least resentment. ”

“ Scolopendra sp. Natural prey.—Ectobius panzeri, England (Lucas, 1911, 1920) : When captured, the centipede was holding a live cockroach which it had apparently just caught. The insect was held beneath its captor's body, ventral surface upward, by several of the anterior legs while the centipede fed.
Class INSECTA
We have found representatives of only 10 orders that have preyed on or parasitized cockroaches: Beetles, flies, bugs, ants, wasps, stylops, and cockroaches occurred in nature; the others resulted from feeding cockroaches to captive insects or were laboratory observations. ”

“ This species is parasitic in cockroaches; the male and female are very different, the former being an active winged Insect, while the female is worm-like, differing but little from the larva, and never leaving the body of the cockroach. It is to be regretted that the life-history is not better known. The species has been found on board ship in vessels coming from India; the male has been met with in several European countries, but the female is excessively rare. ”

“ In a little over 100 cockroaches, Stamm found 10 that were parasitized.
The day before the parasite leaves the host, the cockroach shows an abrupt uneasiness and runs about, finally falling over on its back. The parasite larva emerges from the host through an opening it makes in the membrane between penultimate and last tergite. The host dies a few hours after the larva has left. The larva seeks a sheltered area and pupates within 48 hours. Adults emerge in 9 days (females) and 13 days (males) (Barbier, 1947) . ”

“ On modern cargo ships cockroaches are reported to be extremely numerous in the galley, the crew's quarters, and sometimes in the holds; they dwell in hot, humid environments such as the casing around steam pipes (Monro, 1951) . Williams (1931) reported that Blattella germanica was the most important cockroach pest on ships seen at New York. ”

“ Cameron (1955) listed as parasites and predators of the cockroach 24 species of hymenopterous egg parasites, 7 species of Ampulex which hunt nymphs and adults, 17 Protozoa, 13 nematodes, 5 bacteria, 2 mites, and a few other miscellaneous predators. In his classified list of the protozoan parasites of the Orthoptera of the world, Semans (1943) listed about 26 species from cockroaches. Linstow (1878, 1889) recorded 14 species of helminths from cockroaches. ”

“ The distribution and numbers of the cockroach are rapidly increasing, and unless preventive measures are adopted the insect is likely in the course of time to become a very troublesome and possibly a very dangerous domestic pest. ”

“ Certain organisms which live in cockroaches appear to have no effect on the vitality of the host even though the tissues of the host are invaded. Gregarines may penetrate the intestinal wall of the cockroach without seeming to injure the host. Fungi of the genus Herpomyces invade the cuticle of cockroaches producing pathological changes; yet the insects' behavior is apparently unaffected (see p. 129) . We consider these organisms to be parasites because the host's tissues are invaded and, as far as we know, no benefit to the host results. ”

“ Natural host.—Blatta orientalis, France (Mercier, 1908a) : The organism parasitized the fat body of the cockroach. Mitoses, often abnormal, were induced in the fat cells. Infected cockroaches were easily recognizable by their distended abdomens. The fat body became chalky white and showed through the intersegmental membranes.
Porter (1930) reported finding an unidentified microsporidian in the fat bodies of Blattella germanica and Periplaneta americana collected in South Africa. It may or may not have been a species of Plistophora. ”

“ Experimental prey.—Periplaneta americana, U.S.A. (Moore, 1946) : Cockroaches containing infective acanthellas of Moniliformis dubius were fed to one snake.
Garter Snake Experimental prey.—Blatta orientalis, U.S.A. (Rau, 1924) .
Class AVES
The cockroach is always wrong when arguing with a chicken.
Spanish proverb (Hartnack, 1939)
Arboreal cockroaches hidden in and under bark are much more likely to be encountered by birds than by other predators, and insectivorous birds undoubtedly consume many more cockroaches than the few records would indicate. ”

“ Experimental prey.—Cockroaches, England (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1955a) : This African species ate at least one cockroach per week during the summer months. It can, however, survive four months' starvation and is particularly adapted to a dry climate (Cloudsley-Thompson, personal communication, 1956) .
Centruroides gracilis (Latreille) Experimental prey.—Periplaneta americana, U.S.A. (Roth, unpublished data, 1953) : Scorpion collected in Florida by Roth and identified by Dr. M. H. Muma. ”

“ The roach cannot climb up such legs. To hump himself over them bruises him, and injures his stomach. And if he tries to follow the spiral and goes round and round, he soon becomes dizzy and falls with plaintive cries to the floor. He can climb up my own legs, since they are not spiral, you say? Yes, but I rub castor oil on them before I enter the kitchen.
The cockroach has a fascinating personality. He is not socialistic and faithful, like the ant, for example: he is anarchistic, wild, temperamental, and fond of adventure. He is also contemplative by nature, like other philosophers. ”

“ Finally, the cockroaches ceased to bite and fight each other when they crowded together in the face of danger.
Of Blatta orientalis Marlatt (1915) stated "This species is notably gregarious in habit, individuals living together in colonies in the most amicable way, the small ones being allowed by the larger ones to sit on them, run over them, and nestle beneath them without any resentment being shown." Haber (1919) also observed that this species is often noticed "huddled together, the younger ones crawling over, around, and beneath the older ones." ”

“ The apparent supersedure of one species of domiciliary cockroach by another may result from antagonism between different species, or it may result from more rapid breeding and more effective utilization of available food and space ”

“ Our detailed knowledge of cockroaches is based on studies of the few domiciliary pests that man attempts to eradicate. Comparable studies of the bionomics of the less-well-known species should add much valuable information to our knowledge of this ancient group.
Our understanding of most predator-prey and parasite-host relationships has barely progressed beyond the taxonomic stage. The total effect of predators and parasites in limiting natural populations of cockroaches remains to be determined. ”