Natural hosts.—Ischnoptera sp., U.S.A. (Krombein, 1951).
Lobopterella dimidiatipes, Hawaii (Williams, 1928a, 1929).
Parcoblatta pensylvanica? MacNay (1954) referred to a rare sphecoid wasp in eastern Canada which provisioned its nest with nymphs and adults of P. pensylvanica. Dr. W. R. M. Mason (personal communication, 1957) wrote us that although this wasp was Ampulex canaliculata, it was not reared from the cockroach but was swept from a pine tree. There are no positive records linking A. canaliculata with P. pensylvanica.
Experimental host.—Parcoblatta virginica, females, U.S.A., Missouri (Williams, 1928a, 1929): figure 6.
Nesting sites are in twigs (Krombein, 1951). The adult behavior is similar to that of A. compressa; the female wasp imbibes blood that oozes from the amputated antennae of the cockroach; the egg hatches in 2-3 days, and the development of one male was completed in 33 days (Williams, 1929).
Fig. 6. Ampulex canaliculata attacking Parcoblatta virginica. A, Female wasp stinging her prey, c. X 4.8. B, Wasp's egg attached to the coxa of the mesothoracic leg of the cockroach. C, Larva of A. canaliculata (about three-quarters grown) feeding on the internal organs of the host from the exterior, c. X 4. (Reproduced from F. X. Williams [1929], through the courtesy of Dr. F. X. Williams and F. A. Bianchi, Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association.)