Parcoblatta zebra
Parcoblatta zebra, the banded wood cockroach, is a species of Parcoblatta native to the United States.[2] It has dark transverse bands across the back of its abdomen.[3]
| Parcoblatta zebra | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Blattodea |
| Family: | Ectobiidae |
| Genus: | Parcoblatta |
| Species: | P. zebra |
| Binomial name | |
| Parcoblatta zebra Hebard, 1917 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
(None)[1] | |
Description
The male of the species has a distinctive specialization of its median segment, which has a heavy tuft of agglutinated (stuck together) hairs directed toward its head, and a low, hairy ridge across the segment in front of the tuft.[3] The specialization occurs only in one other Parcoblatta species, P. americana, but is "decidedly greater" in P. zebra.[3]
The male pronotum is elliptical, widest at the middle, and its back edge, sides, and all its angles are rounded.[2] Its tegmina are fully developed, and delicate in structure. The space between its compound eyes is about a third of the distance between its antennal sockets.[2]
Coloration of the male includes a dull yellow head, including its ocelli (simple eye spots), with a vertical "prout's brown" stripe from between the ocelli down to the middle of the clypeus at the bottom of the face[2][3] The disc of the pronotum (the plate behind the head) is a reddish-brown, its sides are a translucent yellow, and the back fourth is a darker brown.[2] The tegmina (outer forewings) are a transparent, brownish-yellow. Its underside and cerci (two rear appendages) are dark brown.[2] Its legs are yellow.[2] The base of each abdominal segment on its back has a dark band across it, while the rear half is pale.[2][3]
The female is larger and more robust than the male, although its somewhat tegmina are shorter, ending at the fifth abdominal segment, and it is incapable of sustained flight.[2] Its pronotum is widest near the base, and the back edge is slightly rounded.[2] The space between its compound eyes is much broader than in the male.[2]
Coloration of the female includes a yellow head, with a transverse brown bar between the antennae. The disc of its pronotum and its tegmina are both reddish-brown with transparent yellow sides.[2] Its legs, sides and middle of the underside of its abdomen, and the back half of each abdominal segment on its back are yellow.[2] The front half of its dorsal abdominal segments are dark, a transverse banding that is unique among females of the genus Parcoblatta.[2][3]
| Male[2] | Female[2] | |
|---|---|---|
| Body length | 13.0–16.0 mm (0.51–0.63 in) | 11.5–14.5 mm (0.45–0.57 in) |
| Pronotum length | 3.1–3.7 mm (0.12–0.15 in) | 3.7–3.9 mm (0.15–0.15 in) |
| Pronotum width | 3.9–4.7 mm (0.15–0.19 in) | 4.8–5.2 mm (0.19–0.20 in) |
| Tegmina length | 13.9–16.1 mm (0.55–0.63 in) | 6.9–7.7 mm (0.27–0.30 in) |
| Tegmina width | 4.3–5.4 mm (0.17–0.21 in) | 3.6–3.8 mm (0.14–0.15 in) |
Distribution
The species is known in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas.[2] It may also occur in New Mexico.[4]
Habitat
Specimens have been found in the cavity of a dead sweet gum tree, under a sign on a shortleaf pine, and beneath a log in a cypress swamp.[2][3]
References
- "Synonyms of banded wood cockroach (Parcoblatta zebra)". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
- Blatchley, Willis Stanley (1920). Orthoptera of northeastern America: with especial reference to the faunas of Indiana and Florida. The Nature Publishing Company. pp. 79–80, 85–86.
- Hebard, Morgan (1917). "The Blattidae of North America north of the Mexican boundary". Memoirs of the American Entomological Society. American Entomological Society (2): 89–93. (The article comprises the whole issue.)
- Princis, K. (1969). Beier, M (ed.). "Blattariae, subordo Epilamproidea, Family Blattellidae, pars 13" (PDF). Orthopterorum Catalogus (in German). The Hague: W. Junk.
External links
- Drawings from a 1917 article by Morgan Hebard. Plate III, labeled 10-14, of P. zebra body parts and a dorsal view of male and specimens. Key to drawings on pages 277.