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

Table 4.3. Longevity of cockroaches on starvation diets.Tests were performed at 36–40% relative
humidity, except for tests with R. maderae, which were run at 70%. Note that controls ( food,
water) are not adult lifespans; controls were terminated when all the experimental insects of
the species died. Modified from Willis and Lewis (1957).
Mean length of survival (days)
food food food food
Species Sex water water water water
Blattidae
Blatta orientalis Female 64 16.8 32.1 14.2
Male 40 11.5 20.0 11.9
Neostylopyga rhombifolia Female 108 25.4 26.7 22.1
Male 128 24.6 29.3 21.9
Periplaneta americana Female 190 40.1 89.6 41.7
Male 97 27.3 43.7 28.1
Eurycotis floridana Female 86 26.6 43.0 26.7
Male 70 21.8 29.7 21.1
Blattellidae
Blattella germanica Female 85 11.9 41.9 12.8
Male 54 8.8 9.6 8.2
Blattella vaga Female 95 7.9 32.4 8.5
Male 69 5.4 16.8 4.8
Supella longipalpa Female 80 12.8 14.3 14.5
Male 74 11.5 10.1 9.0
Blaberidae
Diploptera punctata Female 102 18.7 42.9 18.7
Male 119 14.5 28.9 15.8
Rhyparobia maderae Female 181 160.0 54.3 51.3
Male 150 84.0 56.0 35.1
Nauphoeta cinerea Female 98 24.3 61.1 27.0
Male 94 22.8 46.1 27.3
Pycnoscelus surinamensis Female 139 18.8 73.2 24.3
Male 74 9.9 39.8 10.6
thoptera were used. The feeding behavior of the cockroaches
was observed throughout the night, and their
guts dissected the next day. Without exception, no cockroach
ate fresh vegetation. Individuals that nibbled the
greenery appeared repelled and on occasion could be observed
jumping away from the leaf. When offered a choice
of paper versus green leaves, the cockroaches ate the paper.
When only green leaf was offered, they refused to
feed.
Nonetheless, there are numerous records of cockroaches
as plant pests (Roth and Willis, 1960). In 1789,
Captain William Bligh had to wash down his ships with
boiling water so that cockroaches would not destroy the
breadfruit trees he was transporting from Tahiti to the
West Indies (Roth, 1979a). One of the more frequently reported
plant pests is Pycnoscelus surinamensis, which destroyed
the roots of 300,000 tobacco plants in Sumatra. In
greenhouses, it is known to girdle rose bushes, eat the
bark and stems of poinsettias, and damage orchids, cucumbers,
and lilies. It was responsible for the destruction
of 30,000–35,000 rose plants in one Philadelphia greenhouse,
and regularly hollows the hearts of palms and
ferns in the southern United States (Roth, 1979a). Apparently,
it managed to sneak into Biosphere 2 and took a
strong liking to every kind of living plant. Tomatoes,
sweet potato leaves, flowers and fruit of squash plants,
rice seedlings, ripe papayas and figs, and green sorghum
seeds were each included on the bill of fare (Alling et al.,
1993). While the culprit cockroach was never identified,
both Pyc. surinamensis and P. australasiae were found in
the beehives brought in to pollinate crops (Susan C.
Jones, pers. comm. to CAN).
The most commonly reported type of plant damage by
cockroaches is to seedlings, new leaves, and growing root
DIETS AND FORAGING 67