Domiciliary cockroaches and their oothecal parasites in India

Abstract

In a survey for oothecal parasites of cockroaches in India, 6 species of cockroaches were recorded. Of these Neostylopyga rhombifolia (STOLE.) was restricted to thatched huts while Blattella germanica (L.), Periplaneta americana (L.), P. australasiae (F.), P. brunnea BURMEISTER and Supella longipalpa (F.) were common in other types of buildings. Eight species of parasites, of which 4 are new records; were reared: Anastatus tenuipes BOLIVAR., Cornperia merceti COMPERE, Evania appendigaster (L.), Evania sp. near antennalis WESTW., Genus et sp. nov. near Anastams. Tetrastichus asthenogmus (WATERSTON), T. hagenowii (RATZEr~URG) and Tetrastichus sp. (miser group) which is hyperparasitie. The natural and experimental hosts of these parasites are discussed. The low levels of field parasitism suggest there is scope for introducing more promising parasite species into India for biological control of cockroaches.

Evaluation of Aprostocetus hagenowii (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) for the Control of American Cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattidae) in Sewers and Crevices Around Buildings

“…Its immature stages develop entirely inside oothecae, with nutrients obtained from consuming cockroach eggs (Cameron 1955, Narasimham 1984. Parasitism of oothecae collected from the Þeld in the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, and Japan ranged from 16 to 48% in P. americana, 22Ð 84% in Periplaneta fuliginosa (Serville), and 12.5% in Blatta orientalis L. (Cameron 1955, Fleet and Frankie 1975, Kanayama et al 1976, Narasimham and Sankaran 1979.…”

A review of the hymenopterous natural enemies of cockroaches with emphasis on biological control

“…Residual toxicity of these insecticides to adult parasitoids after 5 days was also high. Boric acid, however, had little adverse effect on adult parasitoids (Narasimham, 1980). The potential for A. hagenowii to be an effective biological control agent in an integrated pest management program led Hagenbueh et al (1988) to improve the mass production of A. hagenowii for inundative releases.…”

“…This indicates that successful integrated pest management programs utilizing A. hagenowii and cockroach baits are possible. The residual effects of spray formulations, both on the ootheca of P. americana and on glass, wood and cement surfaces, was investigated by Narasimham (1980). Propoxur and Fenitrothion were highly toxic to oothecae and the developmental stages of A.…”

Water balance profiles, humidity preference and survival of two sympatric cockroach egg parasitoids Evania appendigaster and Aprostocetus hagenowii (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae; Eulophidae)

“…A. hagenowii is smaller in body size (1.3-2.1 mm in length) but a superior larval competitor compared to E. appendigaster (6.5-8.0 mm) (Narasimham, 1984;Kumarasinghe and Edirisinghe, 1987). Both parasitoid species are widespread and commonly found coexisting in areas where P. americana occurs (Roth and Willis, 1960;Piper et al, 1978;Narasimham and Sankaran, 1979;Kumarasinghe and Edirisinghe, 1991). At inter-and intraspecific levels, body size has been found to affect water balance in insects because smaller body size means greater body surface area per volume available for cuticular water loss (Hood and Tschinkel, 1990;Addo-Bediako et al, 2001;Kaersgaard et al, 2004;Schilman et al, 2007).…”