Cockroaches (Insecta, Blattodea) from caves of Polillo Island (Philippines), with description of a new species

Abstract

Cockroaches collected during a protracted series of fieldwork in several limestone caves in Polillo Island, Philippines were taxonomically studied. A new species of Nocticola (Nocticolidae), N. gonzalezi Lucañas & Lit, sp. n., is described. The male of Periplaneta banksi Hanitsch (Blattidae) is described for the first time. Altogether, the present cave cockroach fauna of the island consists of six species.

Redescription of Periplaneta arabica (Bey-Bienko, 1938) (Blattodea, Blattidae), with a comparative analysis of three species of Periplaneta Burmeister, 1838 (sensu stricto)

“…6), which has a subtropical desert climate (Burstyn et al 2019). Morphologically, slender antennae and legs, absent pulvilli and arolia, lighter body and very small ocelli of early instars are consistent with the convergent evolution of cave-dwelling species (Bell et al 2007;Lucañas and Lit 2016). In contrast, P. americana has well-developed tegmina and wings, and developed pulvilli and arolia in both sexes, which could be favorable to facilitate its dispersal and climbing ability (Clemente and Federle 2008), and also beneficial for this species to colonize other environments (e.g., human settlements, tree trunks in the wild, landfills, and shallow caves with abundant guano; Lucañas et al 2022) in search for food.…”

Predators or Herbivores: Cockroaches of Manipulatoridae Revisited with a New Genus from Cretaceous Myanmar Amber (Dictyoptera: Blattaria: Corydioidea)

“…Raptoblatta waddingtonae is a Cretaceous insect in the typical habitus of cockroaches. It possesses opposing spines on the foreleg femur and tibia, which is reminiscent of mantises, but on the other hand, such a foreleg is also found in detritivorous extant cockroaches (e.g., Periplaneta banksi Hanitsch, 1931 in [ 35 ]). Stavba babkaeva Vršanská and Vršanský, 2019 is another fossil that was interpreted as a predatory cockroach; its predatism was judged mainly from the mantis-like head with large eyes and the foreleg spination [ 36 ].…”

Population structure and habitat preference of cave crickets (<i>Rhaphidophora</i> sp. (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)) in Sanghyang Kenit cave, Citatah karst area, West Java

“…Like cave crickets, many cave-dwelling cockroaches are also guano consumers (Rahmadi & Suhardjono 2007;Ferreira 2019). They are common in a cave with rich guano deposits, and many are restricted to living in guano (guanobites) (Lucañas & Lit 2016). However, the competition likelihood for food between cave crickets and cockroaches in Sanghyang Kenit is considered low.…”