Pierce (1909) predicted that the Blattoidea and the Grylloidea would be the only groups of the Orthoptera which would be parasitized by Strepsiptera. Essig (1926) made the statement that certain cockroaches are among the hosts of Strepsiptera. E. F. Riek (personal communication, 1952) found a strepsipteron in a late nymph of Cutilia sp. from Waroona, Western Australia; he wrote us, "The female parasite is extruded between a pair of sternites towards the base of the abdomen and appears to belong to the family Halictophagidae." This is the only record that we have been able to find of a strepsipteron parasitizing cockroaches.
Order HYMENOPTERA
PREDATORS AND PARASITES OF COCKROACH EGGS
Wasps from at least six families of Hymenoptera have been recorded as developing on cockroach eggs. All the Evaniidae are presumed to be parasitic in the egg capsules of cockroaches (Clausen, 1940; Townes, 1951), although hosts for many of the described species have yet to be discovered. The presence of evaniids in dwellings indicates the presence of cockroaches (Gross, 1950). At times these wasps may become a nuisance; a family in Worthington, Ohio, complained of the evaniid wasps that they found on the windows and in other areas of their home, but they were apparently not annoyed by the oriental cockroaches in the basement (Edmunds, 1953).
The known parasites of cockroach eggs are listed below with summaries of their biology.
Family EVANIIDAE
Acanthinevania princeps (Westwood)
Synonymy.—Evania princeps [Dr. H. Townes, personal communication, 1956].
Natural host.—Cockroach eggs, Australia (Froggatt, 1906).