Cockroache; Ecology, behavior & history - W.J. Bell

Table 3.2. Examples of cockroaches other than Cryptocercidae and Panesthiinae that have been
collected from rotted wood.
Cockroach species Habitat Reference
Anamesia douglasi Under bark, in rotting Roach and Rentz (1998)
wood, in fallen timber
Austropolyphaga queenslandicus Colonies in preformed Roach and Rentz (1998)
chambers in dead logs
and stumps
Lauraesilpha mearetoi In soft wood of small, Grandcolas (1997c)
dead branches
Lamproblatta albipalpus Rotten logs and banana Hebard (1920a)
trucks, leaf litter
Gautier and Deleporte
(1986)
Laxta granicollis Under bark, in rotting Roach and Rentz (1998)
Lax. tillyardi
wood
Litopeltis bispinosa Rotting banana and Roth and Willis (1960)
coconut palms
Methana parva Under bark, in rotting Roach and Rentz (1998)
wood
Panchlora nivea Rotting banana and Roth and Willis (1960)
coconut palms, rotten Séin (1923)
wood
Panchlora spp. Rotting logs, stumps, Wolcott (1950)
woody vegetation Fisk (1983)
Paramuzoa alsopi Juveniles in dead wood Grandcolas (1993b)
Parasphaeria boleiriana In soft, rotten wood Pellens et al. (2002)
Polyphagoides cantrelli In rotting wood Roach and Rentz (1998)
Robshelfordia hartmani In rotting wood, females Roach and Rentz (1998)
also collected in caves
Sundablatta pulcherrima 1 Abundant in decayed Shelford (1906c)
wood
Ylangella truncata Adults under bark; C. Rivault (pers. comm. to
juveniles deep in rotten CAN)
tree trunks
1
Described as Pseudophyllodromia pulcherrima by Shelford (1906c); LMR’s notes on the Shelford manuscript indicate
it is in the genus Sundablatta.
most families have been collected from rotting logs (Table
3.2), but in the majority of cases it is unknown whether
these feed on wood and associated microbes, if they depart
to forage elsewhere, or both. This category is more
fluid than generally recognized, and divisions in the dietary
continuum of rotted leaf litter, soft rotted wood, and
wood-feeding are not always easy to make. This is particularly
true of the many cockroaches that bore into the
well-rotted trunks and stalks of coconut and banana
palms, which have been described as “gigantic vegetables
with a stalk only a little tougher than celery”(Perry, 1986).
Some cockroaches (e.g., Blaberus) are found in rotting
logs as well as a variety of other habitats, others are not
recorded anywhere else. Tryonicus monteithi, Try. mackerrasae,
and Try. parvus are found in rotting wood and under
stones and pieces of wood in Australian rainforest,
but never under bark or above ground (Roach and Rentz,
1998). Anamesia douglasi is found under bark and in rotting
wood, but has also been observed on sand ridges
(Roach and Rentz, 1998), perhaps sunning themselves
like some other Polyzosteriinae. Groups of similar-sized
juveniles of Ylangella truncata, probably hatched from a
single ootheca, live in galleries deep in the interior of large
rotting tree trunks. Adults are excellent fliers and are
found most often just under the bark of these logs. Attempts
to rear nymphs in the laboratory on pieces of rotted
wood and a variety of other foodstuffs, however, were
not successful (C. Rivault, pers. comm. to CAN).A species
of large, reddish, heavy-bodied hissing cockroach has
been observed in groups of 40 or 50 inside of rotten
HABITATS 47