Bananas
Cockroaches have been captured in bunches of bananas, in bracts of banana flowers, under banana leaves, and burrowing in rotten banana stalks. Although many of the species associated with bananas are indigenous to the banana-growing areas of the American Tropics, most of the specimens cited below were captured elsewhere as adventitious insects that had been imported with the fruit. It is obvious that many of these insects must have been closely associated with bananas on the plantations, where, undoubtedly, the growing plants provided attractive ecological niches. Bunting (1956) deduced, from the presence of healthy cockroaches on bananas allegedly sprayed with copper arsenate, that the insects did not feed on stems or fruit but hid among the bananas and foraged elsewhere; however, certain reports are of cockroaches actually feeding on bananas. Some of the records cited by Hebard (1917) were compiled from earlier reports not all of which we have seen. Numbers in parentheses following certain citations indicate the number of times the association had been observed. Known or suspected adventive material is so indicated.
Aglaopteryx diaphana, Jamaica (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): Found in bracts of banana blossoms. England (Bunting, 1955): Adventive, on bananas from Dominica.
Aglaopteryx vegeta, Finland (Princis, 1947): Adventive, in banana box.
Amazonina emarginata, Trinidad (Princis and Kevan, 1955): In banana bunch.
Archimandrita marmorata, Denmark (Henriksen, 1939): Adventive (2), in bananas from Jamaica(?). As Princis (1947) and Gurney (personal communication, 1959) point out, this is a Central American species, so Jamaica may be an error.
Archimandrita tessellate, Sweden (Princis, 1947): Adventive, from Honduras.
Blaberus atropos(?), Denmark (Henriksen, 1939): Adventive, from Jamaica. Princis (1947) pointed out that this species was more likely to have been Blaberus craniifer or Blaberus discoidalis, which are West Indian species, than B. atropos which is a South American species.
Blaberus boliviensis, Ecuador (Princis, 1952): In a shipment of bananas from near Puna.
Blaberus discoidalis, Puerto Rico (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): From banana ripening room. Great Britain (Pearce, 1929): Adventive. England (Bunting, 1955, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica.
Capucinella delicatula, California (Caudell, 1931): Adventive.
Cariblatta delicatula, Cuba (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).
Cariblatta hylaea, Honduras (Rehn, 1945a): Shaken from hanging dead banana leaves.
Cariblatta insularis, Finland (Frey, 1948): Adventive.
Cariblatta landalei, Jamaica (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): All specimens taken from under drying bracts of banana blossoms.
Cariblatta punctipennis and Chorisoneura barbadensis, England (Bunting, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica.
Epilampra abdomen-nigrum and Epilampra sp., England (Bunting, 1955): Adventive, from Dominica.
Epilampra maya, Massachusetts (Hebard, 1917): Adventive.
Epilampra mexicana(?), Denmark (Henriksen, 1939): Adventive (2), from Danish West Indies. Princis (1947) suggested that this should be Epilampra sp., because E. mexicana is not a West Indian species.
Eudromiella calcarata and Eurycotis bananae, U.S.S.R., Leningrad (Bei-Bienko, 1947): Adventive, from Colombia.
Euphyllodromia angustata, Sweden (Princis, 1947): Adventive.
Eurycotis caraibea, New York (Hebard, 1917): Adventive.
Eurycotis dimidiata, Washington, D. C. (Caudell, 1931): Adventive.
Eurycotis lixa, New York (Rehn, 1930): Adventive, on banana ship from Jamaica.
Graptoblatta notulata, Marquesas Islands, Uahuka (Hebard, 1933a): In banana leaves.
Holocompsa nitidula, Trinidad (Princis and Kevan, 1955): Eating banana pulp.
Hormetica laevigata, Wales (Sandemann, 1934): Adventive, in pile of banana sacks.
Hormetica ventralis, Sweden (Princis, 1947): Adventive, in local warehouse of banana company.
Hormetica spp., Europe and North America (Bei-Bienko, 1950): Adventive, introduced with bananas and other tropical fruits.
Ischnoptera rufa rufa, Puerto Rico (Wolcott, 1950): Brought into houses on bunches of bananas.
Kuchinga remota, Society Islands, Moorea (Hebard, 1933a): In dead banana leaves.
Lamproblatta albipalpus, Panama Canal Zone (Hebard, 1920): Several under decayed banana stem.
Latiblattella sp., Finland (Frey, 1948): Adventive.
Leucophaea maderae, New York (Hebard, 1917): Adventive. Dominica (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): Under banana sheaths. England (Palmer, 1928): Adventive, captured at railroad station after bananas had been unloaded. England (Bunting, 1955): Adventive, from Dominica. Trinidad (Princis and Kevan, 1955): Nymph, eating bananas in cupboard. Puerto Rico (Seín, 1923): Seín stated that bananas are the favorite food of L. maderae.
Litopeltis bispinosa, Panama Canal Zone (Hebard, 1920): From rotting banana stalks at bases of leaves.
Litopeltis musarum, Costa Rica (Rehn, 1928): Shaken from dead banana leaves.
Nauclidas nigra, England (Bunting, 1955, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica.
Nauphoeta flexivitta, Denmark (Vestergaard, 1958): Adventive.
Neoblattella carcinus, Neoblattella celeripes, and Neoblattella laodamia, England (Bunting, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica. Bunting (1955) first reported these as Neoblattella spp. and stated that they were common.
Neoblattella detersa, Jamaica (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): From under the bracts of banana blossoms. Sweden (Princis, 1947): Adventive.
Neoblattella detersa and Neoblattella tridens, Finland (Frey, 1948): Adventive.
Neoblattella fratercula, Nebraska (Hebard, 1916b): Adventive.
Neoblattella semota, Jamaica (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): From under drying bracts of banana blossoms.
Neoblattella vatia, Cuba (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).
Neoblattella sp., Finland (Princis, 1947): Adventive, from Jamaica.
Nyctibora azteca, England (Bunting, 1955): Adventive, from Dominica. Bunting reported this species as Nocticola azteca. Dr. A. B. Gurney called our attention to the fact that Nocticola is an Old World genus, presumably combined in error with the New World species azteca. The true identity of the specimen was confirmed by Dr. D. Ragge (personal communication, 1958), who examined it at the British Museum (Natural History).
Nyctibora holoserica, Canada (Walker, 1912): Adventive.
Nyctibora laevigata, Canada, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania (2) (Hebard, 1917): Adventive. Taken from banana boat Annetta at Philadelphia (Rehn and Hebard, 1927). England (Bunting, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica. Sweden, Denmark (Princis, 1947): Adventive.
Nyctibora mexicana(?), Denmark (Henriksen, 1939): Adventive (5), from Jamaica and West Indies. Princis (1947) suggested that these specimens were probably the West Indian Nyctibora noctivaga, because N. mexicana is not a West Indian insect.
Nyctibora noctivaga, Canada, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska (4), Virginia (Hebard, 1917): Adventive. Nebraska (Hauke, 1949): Adventive (2). Panama Canal Zone (Hebard, 1920): From banana stalks. England (Blair in Turner, 1930): Adventive, from Costa Rica. Washington (Hatch, 1938): Adventive. Sweden (Princis, 1947): Adventive (2). Finland (Princis, 1947): Adventive, from Jamaica.
Nyctibora obscura, Trinidad (Princis and Kevan, 1955): In banana bunch.
Nyctibora sericea, Canada (Stevenson, 1905; Walker, 1912): Adventive; Hebard (1917) synonymized Walker's specimen under N. laevigata. Isle of Wight (Meade-Waldo, 1910): Adventive, from Jamaica. England (Tulloch, 1939): Adventive, in banana crates from Brazil.
Nyctibora sp., England (Welch, 1935): Adventive, in railway truck that had carried bananas. England (Tulloch, 1939): Adventive, from Brazil.
Oxyhaloa deusta, U.S.S.R., Leningrad (Bei-Bienko, 1947): Adventive, from Colombia.
Panchlora antillarum, England (Bunting, 1955): Adventive, from Dominica.
Panchlora exoleta, Scotland (Distant, 1902): Adventive. Great Britain (Shaw, 1902): Adventive. England (Coney, 1918): Adventive. Sweden, Norway (Princis, 1947): Adventive, Norwegian specimen from Brazil. Germany (Zacher, 1917): Adventive, from Jamaica.
Panchlora nivea, Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York (2), Utah (Hebard, 1917): Adventive. Nebraska (Hauke, 1949): Adventive. Washington (Hatch, 1938): Adventive. Massachusetts (Roth and Willis, 1958): Adventive. England (Bunting, 1955): Adventive, from Dominica. U.S.S.R. (Bei-Bienko, 1947): Adventive, from Colombia. Sweden (13), Norway (3), Finland (3) (Princis, 1947): Adventive, mostly females; origin (where known) Jamaica.
Panchlora fraterna(?) and Panchlora peruana(?), Denmark (Henriksen, 1939): Adventive; origin (where known) Danish West Indies and Jamaica; Princis (1947) suggested that both species were probably Panchlora nivea.
Panchlora sagax, Puerto Rico (Wolcott, 1936).
Panchlora virescens, Canada (Walker, 1912): Adventive; this was probably P. nivea as we now know it (Gurney, personal communication, 1959).
Panchlora sp., Canada (Walker, 1912): Adventive. England (Tulloch, 1939): Adventive, from Brazil.
Pelmatosilpha coriacea, Puerto Rico (Wolcott, 1936).
Pelmatosilpha marginalis and Pelmatosilpha purpurascens, England (Bunting, 1955, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica; both species common.
Pelmatosilpha vagabunda, New Zealand (Princis, 1954): Adventive, probably from South America.
Periplaneta americana, Belgium (Schepdael, 1931): Adventive, on bananas from the American Tropics.
Periplaneta americana and Periplaneta brunnea, England (Bunting, 1955, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica.
Periplaneta americana and Periplaneta australasiae, England (Watson, 1907): Adventive; they ate ripening bananas in the tropical plant house of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where they hid in "the sheathing bases of palm, banana and pandanus leaves." Sweden (Princis, 1947): Adventive.
Periplaneta australasiae, Canada (Walker, 1912): Adventive. Denmark (Henriksen, 1939): Adventive (9); origin mostly Jamaica. England (Tulloch, 1939): Adventive, from Brazil. England (Bunting, 1955, 1956): Adventive, from Dominica; common.
Platyzosteria bifida, Nebraska (Hebard, 1917): Adventive.
Plectoptera dorsalis, Puerto Rico (Rehn and Hebard, 1927): Captured by beating banana plants.
Pycnoscelus surinamensis, Canada (Walker, 1912; Hebard, 1917): Adventive: Marquesas Islands, Nukuhiva (Hebard, 1933a): In banana leaves. England (Goodliffe, 1958): Adventive, doing considerable damage to banana plants growing in a conservatory.
Sibylloblatta panesthoides, Massachusetts (Rehn, 1937a): Adventive, from Jamaica.
Family ZINGIBERACEAE