Commensal.—Oulopteryx meliponarum, Brazil (Hebard, 1921): According to Hebard, this cockroach is the first one to be known to inhabit the nests of bees. Nothing is known of the relationship between the cockroach and the bees. [See comment by Sonan (1924) on page [318].]
CHECKLIST OF COMMENSAL COCKROACHES WITH THEIR HOSTS
The cockroaches are arranged alphabetically by genus and species. The page references are to citations in the classified section above, where details and/or sources of the records are given.
Attaphila aptera
Ant: Acromyrmex octospinosus, p. [313].
Attaphila bergi
Ants: Acromyrmex lobicornis, p. [312].
Acromyrmex lundi, p. [312].
Acromyrmex silvestrii, p. [313].
Attaphila flava
Host unknown, presumably an ant, p. [314].
Attaphila fungicola
Ants: Acromyrmex octospinosus, p. [313].
Atta cephalotes, p. [313].
Atta texana, p. [313].
Attaphila schuppi
Ant: Acromyrmex niger, p. [312].
Attaphila sexdentis
Ant: Atta sexdens, p. [313].
Attaphila sp.
Ant: Atta cephalotes, p. [313].
Atticola mortoni
Ant: Camponotus rufipes, p. [312].
Ergaula capensis
Termites, p. [311].
Myrmeblattina longipes
Ant: Odontomachus affinis, p. [314].
Myrmecoblatta rehni
Ants: Camponotus maculatus(?), p. [312].
Formica rufibarbis, p. [312].
Formica subcyanea, p. [312].
Myrmecoblatta wheeleri
Ant: Solenopsis geminata, p. [314].
Nocticola sinensis
Termites: Macrotermes barneyi, p. [311].
Odontotermes sp., p. [311].
Nocticola termitophila
Termites: Macrotermes malaccensis, p. [311].
Odontotermes sp., p. [311].
Termes sp., p. 311.
Nothoblatta wasmanni
Ant: Camponotus rufipes, p. [312].
Oulopteryx meliponarum
Bee: Melipona nigra, p. [314].
Phorticolea boliviae
Ants: Camponotus femoratus, p. [311].
Crematogaster limata parabiotica, p. [312].
Phorticolea testacea
Ant: Camponotus rufipes, p. [312].
Sphecophila polybiarum
Wasp: Polybia pygmaea, p. [314].
Sphecophila ravana
Termite: Coptotermes ceylonicus, p. [310].
Sphecophila termitium
Termite: Macrotermes bellicosus or Macrotermes natalensis, p. [311].
OBSCURE ASSOCIATIONS
Cockroaches that are sometimes found in the nests of, or in association with, other animals are not necessarily commensals. This is particularly true of cockroaches that normally are found unassociated with other animals or that merely occupy the same habitat with the other animals because of similar microclimatic requirements (see Chopard, 1924c).
McCook (1877) excavated in February a nest of Formica rufa in Pennsylvania. A hundred or more lively cockroaches occupied a part of the nest that contained few ants. Near the cockroaches McCook also found a colony of Termes flavipes. Ischnoptera deropeltiformis has been found in the company of ants, but it is probably not myrmecophilous (Donisthorpe, 1900). Mann (1911) found an "Ischnoptera" sp. (probably a species of Parcoblatta) abundant in the nests of, and tolerated by, Camponotus maccooki Forel in California. Dead and mutilated specimens of this cockroach were common in the nests of "Formicas." "Ischnoptera" sp. was also common in the nests of Veromessor andrei (Mayr) [= Stenamma andrei]. Hebard (1917) reported that W. M. Wheeler collected Eremoblatta subdiaphana in Arizona as an ant guest. Rehn (1906a; Rehn and Hebard, 1927) reported that Pholadoblatta inusitata had also been taken by Wheeler from the galleries of a jumping ant, Odontomachus clarus Roger [= O. haematodes insularis Guérin var. pallens Wheeler; Brown (personal communication, 1958)], on Andros Island, Bahamas; Rehn and Hebard (1927) stated that "This genus and species is the only blattid, which is presumably a myrmecophile, known from the West Indies." Rehn (1932a) reported Dendroblatta sobrina as taken in an ant nest in a tree in the Amazon Basin. Tivia australica was taken in an ant nest in Australia (Princis, 1954). The male of Compsodes schwarzi was taken in an ant nest in the Santa Rita Mountains of Arizona (Ball et al., 1942). A male and female of Stilpnoblatta minuta were taken in a migrating column of the ant Myrmicaria natalensis Sm. subsp. eumenoides Gerst. in Nyasaland (Princis, 1949). Princis cautioned that it is premature to derive any inference from this, possibly accidental, association. Four females of Parcoblatta desertae were taken about a nest of an ant, Ischnomyrmex sp. (Hebard, 1943a). A nymph of Parcoblatta virginica was found in a nest of Formica sp. (Hauke, 1949).
Chorisoneura texensis has been found in nests of webworm in Florida (Rehn and Hebard, 1916). Karny (1924) in Malaya found an oötheca of Aristiger histrio (sp.?) between leaves (Costus sp.) that had been stuck together by a thysanopteron, Anaphothrips sp. He pointed out that the oötheca would not adhere to leaves that were not stuck together but would fall to the ground.