The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches

by Louis M. Roth; Edwin R. Willis

COCKROACHES ASSOCIATED WITH LAND-BASED STRUCTURES

Most of the cockroaches listed below are either known domiciliary species or they have been found one or more times in houses or other man-made structures. The known structural pests breed within the building. Certain other species, which have been observed only infrequently in structures and are not known to breed there, may possibly be incipient pests; these latter species may attain future economic importance if they establish breeding colonies within a structure. A few species have undoubtedly wandered indoors by accident. It is difficult to decide whether a particular species was an accidental invader or whether it was attracted indoors in response to some stimulus. Only additional information will provide the desired answers.

Aglaopteryx ypsilon

Trinidad.—Male found indoors (Princis and Kevan, 1955).

Allacta similis

Hawaii.—Found only indoors at Nauhi. Otherwise this is apparently an outdoor species (Swezey and Williams, 1932).

Blaberus craniifer

Cuba.—Household pest (Deschapelles, 1939). Particularly abundant in houses in Santiago and Havana (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).

Florida.—Under boards in woodshed (Rehn and Hebard, 1912, 1914).

Blaberus discoidalis

Ecuador.—In eating places (Campos R., 1926).

Hispaniola.—In houses (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).

New Jersey.—In greenhouse (Weiss, 1917).

Puerto Rico.—In homes (Seín, 1923). In fruit stores (Wolcott, 1950).

Blatta lateralis

Central Asia.—Household pest, often found in homes with clay floors (Bei-Bienko, 1950).

Turkmen S.S.R.—Males and females occurred in dwellings (Vlasov, 1929).

Blatta orientalis

This species is a cosmopolitan domiciliary pest (Hebard, 1917; Rehn, 1945). It is reported to occur particularly in basements and crawl spaces under basementless houses (Mallis, 1954). In damp basements where food is available large colonies are not unusual, but it also may infest offices and apartments several floors off the ground (Gould and Deay, 1940). The number encountered on upper floors is seldom large, but the frequency of occurrence may reach 30 percent of the observations (Spear et al., in Shuyler, 1956). In supermarkets this species hides during the day inside concrete blocks or cracks in the foundation, under furniture, or behind cartons; it is conspicuous on the floors of the markets at night (De Long, 1948). In Great Britain the kitchen is preferred by this pest (and by Blattella germanica); they shelter beneath steam radiators and gas stoves, behind hot-water pipes, underneath furniture and floor coverings, sinks and baths; basements and underground kitchens are especially likely to be infested (Laing, 1946; British Museum [Nat. Hist.], 1951). Goodliffe (1958) noted that B. orientalis may travel long distances to find food.

Blattella germanica

This species is a cosmopolitan domiciliary pest (Hebard, 1917; Rehn, 1945). It is one of the commonest insects in homes and restaurants (Gould and Deay, 1940). It is found in kitchens, larders, bathrooms, furnace rooms, and storage rooms of bakeries, breweries, hospitals, barracks, as well as dwellings, where, during daylight, it hides behind cupboards, furniture, hanging pictures, panels and skirting boards, in cracks around drains, water pipes, electric wires, and hot-water and steam heating units (Wille, 1920). The German cockroach may be found in cracks around baseboards, pipes, conduits, sinks, and drawers; behind cabinets; inside switch boxes and refrigerators; on under surfaces of tables, chairs, and shelves; between stacks of stored goods, and in almost every place that is not readily observed (Kruse, 1948). We have also seen this species packed in electric-clock cases and loud-speaker baffles, in cash registers, and clinging to the undersurface of stainless-steel steam tables. The infestation of markets by this species has been described above. Very narrow cracks provide refuges for the German cockroach. Wille (1920) found first-instar nymphs in cracks 0.5 mm. wide and adult males and females without oöthecae in cracks 1.6 mm. wide.

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.

Blattella schubotzi

Cameroon.—Five specimens in a house (Princis, 1955).

Blattella vaga

U.S.A.—Although this is mostly an outdoor species, during dry seasons it may temporarily enter houses in great numbers, occasionally breeding indoors in Arizona (Flock, 1941a). Two adults were collected indoors in Texas (Riherd, 1953).

Chromatonotus notatus

Trinidad.—A male was found indoors (Princis and Kevan, 1955).

Cutilia soror

Hawaii.—Almost as common in houses as Neostylopyga rhombifolia (Hebard, 1922).

Ectobius duskei

U.S.S.R.—Frequently occurs in living apartments in farming localities as an accidental inhabitant (Bei-Bienko, 1950).

Ectobius pallidus

Massachusetts.—A summertime pest in houses along coast (Gurney, 1953; E. R. Willis, personal observation). Generally an outdoor species.

Epilampra abdomen-nigrum

Trinidad.—Male, indoors (Princis and Kevan, 1955). An outdoor species generally.

Ergaula capensis

Cameroon.—A male taken in a house (Princis, 1955).

Eublaberus posticus

Trinidad.—Indoors, feeding on bat feces (Princis and Kevan, 1955).

Eurycotis floridana

Florida.—Occasionally found in homes (Creighton, 1954; Roth and Willis, 1954a).

Euthyrrhapha pacifica

Hawaii.—Found outdoors and indoors where it breeds in neglected cupboards and in rubbish (Fullaway and Krauss, 1945).

Holocompsa azteca

Mexico.—Household pest (Ball et al., 1942).

Holocompsa cyanea

Costa Rica.—One specimen in house (Rehn, 1906).

Holocompsa nitidula

Apparently domiciliary in American Tropics (Hebard, 1917). In houses under chests, etc., Cuba (Gundlach, 1890-1891); Puerto Rico (Gundlach, 1887). In folds of burlap bag, Florida (Rehn and Hebard, 1914).

Ischnoptera rufa occidentalis

Panama.—Thrives about human habitations under litter, though not domiciliary (Hebard, 1920).

Ischnoptera rufa rufa

Jamaica.—In hotel. "While hardly a domiciliary form it would seem to frequent environments where man has considerably disturbed natural conditions, as under debris, docks, under logs and stones in cultivated areas" (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).

Leucophaea maderae

West Indies.—In habitations, warehouses, and other structures; "At times it is a very abundant and serious pest" (Rehn, 1945). In Puerto Rico it was also found in fruit stores, markets, and inns (Seín, 1923; Wolcott, 1950).

Reported as a domiciliary pest in Madeira (Heer, 1864); Windward Islands (Marshall, 1878); Tropics and sub-Tropics (Rehn, 1937); Philippine Islands (Uichanco, 1953); New York City (Anonymous, 1953; Gurney, 1953); Trinidad (Princis and Kevan, 1955). This species is also established in coastal Brazil, Central America, all the Greater Antilles, several other tropical islands, and tropical Africa, where it probably originated (Rehn, 1945).

Leurolestes circumvagans

Hispaniola, Grenada.—Largely domiciliary (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).

Leurolestes pallidus

Cuba.—All over island, in houses, under lockers, etc. (Rehn, 1945; Gundlach, 1890-1891).

Florida.—Rehn and Hebard (1914).

This species has been recorded from various islands in the West Indies, from Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil (Rehn, 1945).

Methana marginalis

Australia.—Reported entering houses (Pope, 1953a).

Nauphoeta cinerea

Australia.—In hospital (Mackerras and Mackerras, 1948). In dwellings, grain stores, and fowl-feeding pens (Pope, 1953).

Sudan.—Domiciliary in huts of the Shilluk natives; fairly widely distributed in eastern Africa (Rehn, 1945).

Hawaii.—In feed rooms of poultry plants (Illingworth, 1942).

Florida.—Established in feed mills around Tampa (Gresham, 1952; Gurney, 1953).

The wide distribution of this species from East Africa, where it originated, to the Orient and the New World was undoubtedly mediated by shipping (Rehn, 1945).

Neoblattella sp.

Puerto Rico.—Observed [as Blatta caraibea, Rehn and Hebard (1927)] in houses (Gundlach, 1887).

Neostylopyga rhombifolia

Domiciliary in Indo-Malaya and New World Tropics (Rehn, 1945); Philippine Islands (Uichanco, 1953); and Hawaii (Hebard, 1922).

Oxyhaloa buprestoides

Presumably to some extent domiciliary, as it evidently spread from Africa to the New World via slave ships (Rehn and Hebard, 1927; Rehn, 1945).

Panchlora nivea

Colombia.—A male and a female taken in a dwelling (Princis, 1946). This is primarily an outdoor species which is frequently taken indoors as an adventive on bananas (see p. 150 for references).

Parcoblatta fulvescens

Florida.—Males found in laboratory and dormitory buildings, ostensibly attracted by lights (Friauf, 1953).

Parcoblatta lata

Connecticut.—Domiciliary pest (Moore, 1957). Generally an outdoor species.

Parcoblatta notha

Arizona.—It may occasionally be a nuisance in houses (Ball et al., 1942).

Parcoblatta pensylvanica

U.S.A.—Country houses often badly infested, Indiana (Blatchley, 1920). Frequently taken in houses in wooded areas, Michigan (Hubbell, 1922). Infestation by males, females, and nymphs on fourth floor of building, South Dakota (Severin, 1952). Houses in wooded areas infested by nymphs and occasionally by adults (Gould and Deay, 1940).

Canada.—Pest in summer cottages in Ontario (Walker, 1912).

Periplaneta americana

This is a cosmopolitan domiciliary pest (Hebard, 1917; Rehn, 1945). It is common in restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, and where food is prepared or stored; it was trapped regularly in the basement and upper floors of store buildings, and it was also found in all heated parts of an old meat-packing plant (Gould and Deay, 1938). P. americana was numerous in latrines in Iran (Bei-Bienko, 1950) and in privies in Texas (Dow, 1955) and Georgia (Haines and Palmer, 1955). Large numbers of this species also occur in sewers adjacent to human habitations (Roth and Willis, 1957a).

Periplaneta australasiae

Generally domiciliary, but also occurs outdoors in the West Indies (Rehn and Hebard, 1927). It is a very abundant domiciliary pest in tropical Africa and tropical America (Rehn, 1945); Ecuador (Campos R., 1926); Puerto Rico (Sein, 1923); Philippine Islands (Uichanco, 1953); Australia (Pope, 1953).

Also occurs as a pest in greenhouses in Pennsylvania (Thilow and Riley, 1891); France (Giard, 1900); Italy (Boettger, 1930); Great Britain (Laing, 1946; British Museum [Nat. Hist.], 1951).

Periplaneta brunnea

Circumtropical domiciliary pest which is apparently more nearly peculiar to the Tropics and adjacent regions than P. americana (Hebard, 1917). This species has been trapped in significant numbers in privies and dwellings in Georgia (Haines and Palmer, 1955). It is the species of Periplaneta present in homes in San Antonio, Texas (Mallis, 1954).

Periplaneta fuliginosa

U.S.A.—Frequently encountered out of doors, but has been reported common after dark about a hotel in Alabama and was captured in a house in Louisiana; it was also extremely abundant on the wharves at night in Jacksonville, Florida (Hebard, 1917). As a domiciliary pest it was, next to Blattella germanica, the most common cockroach inside homes in southwest Georgia, where it was also the most common cockroach in privies (Haines and Palmer, 1955). This species has become a very common domiciliary pest in Texas (Eads, personal communication, 1955). It infested a greenhouse for five years in Indiana (Gould and Deay, 1940).

Periplaneta ignota

Australia.—It occurs in dwellings occasionally (Pope, 1953).

Phaetalia pallida

Colombia.—Three specimens from three dwellings (Princis, 1946).

Trinidad.—Male indoors; male and female at light (Princis and Kevan, 1955).

Plectoptera dorsalis

Puerto Rico.—According to Gundlach (1887) it enters houses at night attracted by light (Rehn and Hebard, 1927).

Polyphaga aegyptiaca

Iraq.—Common in houses (Weber, 1954).

Caucasus.—Winged male in kitchen (Burr, 1913).

U.S.S.R.—Listed as a sinanthrope (Bei-Bienko, 1950).

Polyphaga saussurei

South-central Asia.—One of the commonest domiciliary species (Bei-Bienko, 1950).

Pseudophoraspis nebulosa

East Indies.—This species is sometimes difficult indoors (Karny, 1925).

Pycnoscelus surinamensis

A household pest in the East Indies (Karny, 1925); Philippine Islands (Uichanco, 1953); Tanganyika (Smith, 1955); Trinidad, eight records indoors (Princis and Kevan, 1955). It is also a greenhouse pest (Hebard, 1917; Zappe, 1918; Doucette and Smith, 1926; Saupe, 1928; Roeser, 1940). Common in or around chicken batteries and yards in Hawaii (Schwabe, 1949).

Supella supellectilium

Domiciliary wherever distributed (Rehn, 1945), this species is especially difficult to control because of its apparently nonselective dispersal throughout dwellings. For example, Mallis (1954) observed in Texas that it was widely distributed throughout the apartment and was probably the most common cockroach seen in the bedroom; its favorite harborages were beneath and behind corner braces on kitchen chairs, underneath tables, behind pictures and other objects on walls, and in shower stalls; its oöthecae were commonly fastened on walls and ceilings throughout the house. Gould and Deay (1940) reported that this species prefers high locations, such as shelves in closets, behind pictures, and picture molding; oöthecae were found about kitchen sink, desks, tables, and other furniture, and even in bedding. Hafez and Afifi (1956) stated that the adult wanders in nearly all rooms of the house and only visits the kitchen when searching for food; it hides in cupboards, pantries, closets, bookshelves, drawers, and behind picture frames; the nymphs normally hide in the corners of drawers, behind frames, and in similar situations.

Symploce bicolor

Puerto Rico.—In houses, Sardinera Beach, Mona Island (Ramos, 1946).

Symploce hospes

North American Tropics.—Domiciliary, but not exclusively so, and apparently widely distributed (Hebard, 1917). In Florida, as Ischnoptera rufescens, found in a greasy cupboard (Rehn and Hebard, 1914).

Hawaii.—Illingworth (1915).