Schizopilia fissicollis

Schizopilia fissicollis is a species of cockroach living in Suriname and French Guiana.

Schizopilia fissicollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Blaberidae
Family:
Zetoborinae
Genus:
Schizopilia
Species:
Schizopilia fissicollis
Binomial name
Schizopilia fissicollis
Serville, 1839

Biology

Schizopilia fissicollis is a neotropical cockroach species that lives on under loose bark of trunks of dead trees.[1]

Its flattened body structure allow it to live in crevices and narrow places under (partially) loose bark. It also protects them from predators like ants. By adhering firmly to the underground, the extensions at the tergum are pushed on the substrate, allowing no room for ants and minimizing the attack surface.[2]

Adults have large rounded wings that extend over the abdomen. The eyes are rather small, directed frontal and lateral with a more or less translucent area in the pronotum above the eyes.

The upper side of the body (pronotum, mesothorax and metathorax and abdomen) of the nymphs is covered with tubercles, giving it a rough appearance. In adults, the pronotum is smooth and shining and the lateral posterior edges of the pronotum are bifurcated, resulting in two lobes.[3]

Nymph hiding on a leave
The flattened body shape.
Top view of a nymph. Notice that nymphs do not have the extensions at the pronotum like the adults do.

Reproduction

Like other members of the family Zetoborinae, Schizopilia fissicollis is an ovoviviparous cockroach.[4] Eggs are kept inside the abdomen of the mother until they hatch. It's not known if Schizopilia fissicollis exhibits social interactions between mother and offspring or between siblings, as described in some related Zetoborinae cockroaches.

Notes

    References

    [5] [6] [7] [8]

    1. GRANDCOLAS, Philippe (1993). "Habitats of Solitary and Gregarious Species in the Neotropical Zetoborinae (Insecta, Blattaria)". Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment. 28 (3): 179–190. doi:10.1080/01650529309360902.
    2. Bell, William B.; Roth, Louis M.; Nalepa, Christine A/ (2007). Cockroaches, Ecology, Behavior, and Natural History. Baltomore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8616-4.
    3. de Saussure, Henri (January 1, 1864). Orthoptères de l'Amérique moyenne. Geneve: Imprimerie Ramboz et Schuchardt.
    4. van Baaren, J; Bonhomme, AS; Deleporte, P; Pierre, JS (February 2003). "Behaviours promoting grouping or dispersal of mother and neonates in ovoviviparous cockroaches". Insectes Sociaux. 50 (1): 45–53. doi:10.1007/s000400300007.
    5. "Catalogue of Life - 2011 Annual Checklist :: Search all names".
    6. Serville (1839), Hist. nat. Ins., Orth., Paris
    7. Princis In Beier [Ed.] (1964) Blattariae: Subordo Blaberoidea: Fam.: Panchloridae, Gynopeltididae, Derocalymmidae, Perisphaeriidae, Pycnoscelididae., Orthopterorum Catalogus, W. Junk, s'Gravenhage(6)
    8. BlattodeaSF: Blattodea Species File. Beccaloni G.W., 2010-04-28
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