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

Table 3.5. Studies in which cockroaches were collected during canopy sampling.
Method Location Habitat Reference
Beating foliage Gabon Lowland rainforest Basset et al. (2003a)
Branch bagging Puerto Rico, Evergreen wet forest Schowalter and Ganio (2003)
Panama
Bromeliad bagging Venezuela Cloud forest Paoletti et al. (1991)
Bromeliad bagging Mexico Low, inundated forest, Dejean and Olmstead (1997)
semi-evergreen forest
Fogging Sabah Lowland rainforest Floren and Linsenmair (1997)
Fogging Australia Rainforest Kitching et al. (1997)
Fogging Japan Mixed pine stand Watanabe (1983)
Fogging Brunei Lowland rainforest Stork (1991)
Fogging Thailand Dry evergreen forest Watanabe and
Ruaysoongnern (1989)
Fogging Hawaii Varied; altitudinal transect Gagné (1979)
Fogging Costa Rica, Lowland forest Fisk (1983)
Panama
Light traps Sarawak Lowland mixed Itioka et al. (2003)
dipterocarp forest
Suspended soil Gabon Lowland forest Winchester and Behancores
Pelletier (2003)
ducted in the tropics. The canopies of temperate forests
have proportionately fewer niches available because of
the lower occurrence of lianas and epiphytes (Basset et al.,
2003b; Novotny et al., 2003). In Japan, no cockroaches
were listed in the results of a fogging study on a cypress
plantation (Hijii, 1983) but they were recovered from a
mixed pine stand (Watanabe, 1983). Miriamrothschildia
( Onychostylus) pallidiolus is an arboreal cockroach in
Japan, the Ryuku islands, and Taiwan. The nymphs are
very flat and semitransparent, and are found on live or
dead tree leaves (Asahina, 1965). In the United States
(South Carolina) Parcoblatta sp. were present in dead
limbs and in and on the outer bark of longleaf pines sampled
in winter. All trees had cockroaches on the upper
bole, with a mean biomass of 36.2 mg/m 2 . Cockroaches
were present but variable on other parts of the tree
(Hooper, 1996). Additional Blattaria that forage and shelter
on live and dead tree boles at various heights include
Aglaopteryx gemma (Horn and Hanula, 2002) and several
species of Platyzosteria on tea tree (Leptospermum) in
Australia (Rentz, 1996).
A number of species that shelter on or near the forest
floor spend their active period on trunks or low branches
(Schal and Bell, 1986). However, Basset et al. (2003a) reported
no difference in the number of cockroaches collected
between day and night beat samples in lowland
tropical rainforest in Gabon. Seasonal movement into the
canopy may occur, coincident with rainfall and its effects
on tree phenology. In Central America, Fisk (1983) collected
16 arboreal cockroach species (n 220) during the
dry season, but 24 species (n 986) during the wet season.
Maximum cockroach numbers coincided with peak
new leaf production of the early wet season. In a light
trapping study in Sarawak, Itioka et al. (2003) monitored
cockroach abundance in relation to flowering periods in
the canopy. Blattaria were most numerous during the
post-flowering stage, and lowest during the non-flowering
stage (Fig. 3.12). This seasonal abundance was attributed
to the increased amount of humus in the canopy
during the post-flowering period, derived from spent
flowers, fruits, and seeds. Barrios (2003) found that the
number of cockroaches collected by beat sampling comparable
leaf areas in Panama was higher in mature trees
(n 237) than in saplings (n 60). Long-term fluctuations
were evident in a study by Schowalter and Ganio
(2003). Canopy cockroaches were more abundant in
drought years, and least abundant during post-hurricane
years in Puerto Rico and Panama.
There are numerous humid microhabitats in treetops,
where cockroaches not specifically adapted to the arid
conditions of the canopy thrive. Among these are habitats
that are little or nonexistent in the understory, such as
bird nests and the spaces in and around complex vegetation
such as epiphytes, intertwining vines, lianas, tendrils,
HABITATS 59