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Domiciliary cockroaches and their oothecal parasites in India

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Abstract

In a survey for oothecal parasites of cockroaches in India, 6 species of cockroaches were recorded. Of theseNeostylopyga rhombifolia (Stoll.) was restricted to thatched huts whileBlattella germanica (L.),Periplaneta americana (L.),P. australasiae (F.),P. brunnea Burmeister andSupella longipalpa (F.) were common in other types of buildings. Eight species of parasites, of which 4 are new records, were reared:Anastatus tenuipes Bolivar.,Comperia merceti Compere,Evania appendigaster (L.),Evania sp. nearantennalis Westw., Genus et sp. nov. nearAnastatus. Tetrastichus asthenogmus (Waterston),T. hagenowii (Ratzeburg) andTetrastichus sp. (miser group) which is hyperparasitic. 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.

Résumé

Au cours de la recherche des parasites des oothèques des blattes aux Indes 6 espèces de blattes ont été répertoriées. Parmi ellesNeostylopyga rhombifolia (Stoll.) ne se trouve que dans des huttes en chaume tandis queBlatella germanica (L.),Periplaneta americana (L.),P. australasiae (F.),P. brunnea Burmeister etSupella longipalpa (F.) sont communes dans les autres types d’habitations. Huit espèces de parasites, dont 4 nouvelles pour l’Inde, ont été obtenues:Anastatus tenuipes Bolivar.,Comperia merceti Compere,Evania appendigaster (L.),Evania sp. proche deantennalis Westw., un parasite d’un genre et d’une espèce proche deAnastatus. Tetrastichus asthenogmus (Waterston),T. hagenowii (Ratzeburg) etTetrastichus sp. (du groupemiser) qui est hyperparasite. Les hôtes naturels et expérimentaux de ces parasites sont discutés. Les faibles taux de parasitisme naturel suggèrent l’intérêt d’introduire aux Indes des parasites plus efficaces pour la lutte biologique contre les blattes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, Indian Station, 560 006, Bangalore, India

    A. Uma Narasimham & T. Sankaran

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  1. A. Uma Narasimham
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  2. T. Sankaran
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This paper is published with the permission of the Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi.

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Narasimham, A.U., Sankaran, T. Domiciliary cockroaches and their oothecal parasites in India. Entomophaga 24, 273–279 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02374241

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