Therea petiveriana

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Therea petiveriana
SevenSpotRoach2.jpg
SevenSpotRoach1.jpg
Male above, female below (with shorter antennae)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Family: Corydiidae
Genus: Therea
Species:
T. petiveriana
Binomial name
Therea petiveriana
Synonyms [2]

Corydia petiveriana
Cassida petiveriana

Therea petiveriana, variously called the desert cockroach, seven-spotted cockroach, domino cockroach, or Indian domino cockroach, is a species of crepuscular cockroach found in southern India. They are members of a basal group within the cockroaches. [3] [4] This somewhat roundish and contrastingly marked cockroach is mainly found on the ground in scrub forest habitats where they may burrow under leaf litter or loose soil during the heat of the day. [5]

Contents

Domino Roach walking

Description

Pattern of spots on the tegmina CorydiaPetiveriana.jpg
Pattern of spots on the tegmina

The black and white pattern of adults is believed to have evolved to mimic the pattern of the aggressive ground beetle Anthia sexguttata that has strong defenses, including the ability to spray chemical irritants. [6] The upperside of the abdomen is orange-yellow, but is hidden by the tegmina. The spots on the asymmetrical tegmina are placed so that when closed, the spots appear symmetrical. The right tegmen lobe is bright orange-yellow. The species has been said to be one of the few cockroaches with "grace and beauty". [7] The head is bent back underneath the pronotal shield (hypognathous) and the ocelli (simple eyes) face forward, helping sense light and thereby time, and they forage actively during early morning and late evening. [5]

Reproduction

Once a female has copulated with a male, she does not allow other males to approach, kicking them away with her hind legs. [8] The eggs are laid in leaf litter. [9] Up to 13 oothecae are produced by a female over 3 to 40 days [5] (blocking the ocelli of the females has been found to inhibit the laying of eggs [5] ). The oothecae are produced as in other cockroaches by the secretions from the asymmetrical colleterial glands of the females. [10] Once the ootheca is extruded it is deposited in suitably moist leaf litter. [11] Nymphs lead a life hidden below the ground and may go as deep as 30 cm during the dry season. [12]

Taxonomy

This is the type species for the genus Therea. The species epithet is after James Petiver (1663–1718), who obtained specimens from Madras and its vicinity (probably from the surgeon at Fort St. George, either Samuel Browne or more likely Edward Bulkley [13] ). Carl Linnaeus placed the species under Cassida and described C. petiveriana and another that he called C. septemguttata, now considered a synonym. [1]

Communication

Like other cockroaches, T. petiveriana uses chemical pheromones to communicate with each other. When disturbed, they are said to raise their wings and evert lateral glands on the second and third abdominal segments. Their glandular secretions were found to contain volatile compounds N-3-methylbutylacetamide (MBA) and N-3-methylbutylpropanamide (MBP), making up nearly 60% of the volatile fraction. These chemicals appeared to induce alarm behaviour. [14]

Digestion

Like termites, these cockroaches have symbiotic bacteria and flagellates in their gut that aid in digestion. [15] [16]

As pets

The conspicuously marked Therea cockroaches are popular as pets and easy to keep. The most commonly kept species has often been identified as T. petiveriana, but in 2009 it was instead suggested that the captive population actually belongs to a separate species, T. bernhardti , that differs primarily in the hindwings (which usually are hidden behind the tegmina), but also in small details of the tegmina pattern. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dictyoptera</span> Superorder of insects

Dictyoptera is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea and the order Mantodea (mantises). All modern Dictyoptera have short ovipositors and typically lay oothecae. The oldest fossils of Dictyoptera from the Late Carboniferous, referred to as "roachoids" have long ovipositors and did not lay oothecae. The oldest modern oothecae-laying dictyopterans date to the Late Triassic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ootheca</span> Type of egg mass made by some molluscs, mantises and cockroaches

An ootheca is a type of egg capsule made by any member of a variety of species including mollusks, mantises, and cockroaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida woods cockroach</span> Species of cockroach

The Florida woods cockroach is a large cockroach species which typically grows to a length of 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in). When alarmed, adults can eject an extremely foul-smelling directional spray up to 1 m, which inspired several of its other common names: Florida skunk roach, Florida stinkroach, skunk cockroach, skunk roach, stinking cockroach, and stinkroach. Two other naming variations include Florida cockroach and Florida woods roach.

<i>Cryptocercus</i> Genus of cockroaches

Cryptocercus is a genus of Dictyoptera and the sole member of its own family Cryptocercidae. Species are known as wood roaches or brown-hooded cockroaches. These roaches are subsocial, their young requiring considerable parental interaction. They also share wood-digesting gut bacteria types with wood-eating termites, and are therefore seen as evidence of a close genetic relationship, that termites are essentially evolved from social cockroaches.

<i>Blattella asahinai</i> Species of cockroach

Blattella asahinai, the Asian cockroach, is a species of cockroach that was first described in 1981 from insects collected on Okinawa Island, Japan. It is a small species of cockroach, typically 1.3 to 1.6 centimetres long and tan to dark brown in colour with dark parallel stripes on the back of their heads. It is commonly mistaken for the German cockroach due to their similar appearance. It is now commonly found in the United States in and around houses.

<i>Parcoblatta virginica</i> Species of insect

Parcoblatta virginica, the Virginia wood cockroach, is a small cockroach species of the genus Parcoblatta, measuring about a centimeter long as an adult.

<i>Parcoblatta fulvescens</i> Species of cockroach

Parcoblatta fulvescens, the fulvous wood cockroach, is a species of cockroach endemic to the United States and possibly Canada that measures around 13 mm (0.5 in) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blattodea</span> Order of insects that includes cockroaches and termites

Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach lineage, cladistically making them cockroaches as well. The Blattodea and the mantis are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. Blattodea includes approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cockroach</span> Insects of the order Blattodea

Cockroaches are insects belonging to the order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known pests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death's head cockroach</span> Species of cockroach

The death's head cockroach is a species of cockroach belonging to the family Blaberidae. It is often confused with the discoid cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis, due to its similar appearance. It is distinguished by jet black cloak-like marking on its wings and a skull-shaped, amber/black marking on its pronotum. The name death's head comes from the markings on the top of the pronotum: "cranii", which is Latin for "of the head", and "fer", meaning "carry" or "carrier". Due to their unique appearance and certain characteristics, they make an easy to care for pet or display insect for entomologists and hobbyists.

<i>Therea</i> (insect) Genus of cockroaches

Therea is a genus of crepuscular cockroach found in South, East and Central India and in Sri Lanka. Its species are found on the ground or at low levels in vegetation in lowland and foothill forests and woodlands that vary from dry to semi-humid. Adults are generally 1.5–2.8 cm (0.6–1.1 in) long and black with contrasting markings in whitish or orange. The genus includes some species that are popular as pets.

<i>Evania appendigaster</i> Species of wasp

Evania appendigaster, also known as the blue-eyed ensign wasp, is a species of wasp in the family Evaniidae. Its native range is not known, but it likely originated in Asia. Today it occurs throughout the tropics and subtropics and in many temperate regions. As with the rest of its family, the blue-eyed ensign wasp is a parasitoid known for specializing on cockroach eggs.

<i>Cariblatta lutea</i> Species of cockroach

Cariblatta lutea is a small species of cockroach native to the United States and other countries, measuring usually around 7 millimeters long as an adult and under 2 millimeters from head tip to abdomen tip at the 1st instar or hatchling. It consists of two subspecies, the small yellow cockroach, and the least yellow cockroach.

<i>Parcoblatta bolliana</i> Species of cockroach

Parcoblatta bolliana, Boll's wood cockroach or Boll's wood roach, is a small species of wood cockroach native to the United States, measuring around 11 mm (0.43 in) long.

<i>Parcoblatta uhleriana</i> Species of cockroach

Parcoblatta uhleriana, the Uhler's wood cockroach, is a species of Parcoblatta native to the United States and Canada. It is a forest species also found in disturbed and urban environments. The male of the species flies freely, while the female does not fly.

<i>Parcoblatta lata</i> Species of cockroach

Parcoblatta lata, the broad wood cockroach, is a species of wood cockroach native to the United States. It is one of the largest species of wood cockroaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyneoptera</span> Group of insects

The cohort Polyneoptera is one of the major groups of winged insects, comprising the Orthoptera and all other neopteran insects believed to be more closely related to Orthoptera than to any other insect orders. They were formerly grouped together with the Palaeoptera and Paraneoptera as the Hemimetabola or Exopterygota on the grounds that they have no pupa, the wings gradually developing externally throughout the nymphal stages. Many members of the group have leathery forewings (tegmina) and hindwings with an enlarged anal field (vannus).

<i>Cryptocercus punctulatus</i> Species of cockroach

Cryptocercus punctulatus, known generally as brown-hooded cockroach, is a species of cockroach in the family Cryptocercidae. Other common names include the woodroach, wingless wood roach, and eastern wood-eating cockroach. It is found in North America.

<i>Maoriblatta novaeseelandiae</i> Species of cockroach

Maoriblatta novaeseelandiae, or the large black kēkerengū, is a species of cockroach in the family Blattidae. Its other names include black stink-roach, black stink cockroach, black cockroach and papata pango. It is known for the defensive chemical it produces when disturbed.

References

  1. 1 2 Judith A. Marshall, Judith A. (1975). "The orthopteroid insects described by Linnaeus, with notes on the Linnaean collection". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 78 (4): 375–396. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1975.tb02266.x.
  2. ↑ "ZooBank".
  3. ↑ Grandcolas, P. (1993). "Le genre Therea Billberg, 1820: position phylogenetique, nouvelles especes, repartition, valence ecologique (Dictyoptera, Blattaria, Polyphaginae)". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 71 (9): 1816–1822. doi:10.1139/z93-259.
  4. ↑ Philippe Grandcolas, Yung Chul Park, Jae C. Choe, Maria-Dolors Piulachs, Xavier Bellés, Cyrille D'Haese, Jean-Pierre Farine, Rémy Brossut and Jena-Pierre Farine (2001). "What does Cryptocercus kyebangensis, n.sp. (Dictyoptera: Blattaria: Polyphagidae) from Korea reveal about Cryptocercus evolution? A study in morphology, molecular phylogeny, and chemistry of tergal glands". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 151: 61–79. doi:10.1635/0097-3157(2001)151[0061:WDCKNS]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   13719378.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 Livingston, D & M Rajambal (1980). "Association of ocelli with the neuroendocrine system of Therea petiveriana (L.) (Blaberoidea: Polyphagidae)" (PDF). Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Anim. Sci.). 89 (2): 147–153. doi:10.1007/BF03179155. S2CID   84009370.
  6. ↑ "Mimicry". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
  7. ↑ Sharp, David (1895). The Cambridge Natural History. Volume 5. Macmillan and Co. London. pp. 233–234.
  8. ↑ Livingstone D, Ramani R (1978). "Studies on the reproductive biology". Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 87 (9): 229–247. doi:10.1007/BF03179011. S2CID   81843029.
  9. ↑ Ananthasubramanian, K.S. & T.N. Ananthakrishnan (1959). "The structure of the ootheca and egg laying habits of Corydia petiveriana L". Indian Journal of Entomology. 21: 59–64.
  10. ↑ Annie Courrent, André Quennedey, Christine A. Nalepa, Alain Robert, Michael Lenz and Christian Bordereau (2008). "The fine structure of colleterial glands in two cockroaches and three termites, including a detailed study of Cryptocercus punctulatus (Blattaria, Cryptocercidae) and Mastotermes darwiniensis (Isoptera, Mastotermitidae)". Arthropod Structure & Development. 37 (1): 55–66. doi:10.1016/j.asd.2007.03.004. PMID   18089127.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ William J. Bell; Louis Marcus Roth; Christine A. Nalepa (2007). Cockroaches: ecology, behavior, and natural history. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 123. ISBN   978-0-8018-8616-4.
  12. ↑ Bhoopathy, S. (1997). "Microhabitat preferences among four species of cockroaches". Journal of Nature Conservation. 9: 259–264.
  13. ↑ Petiver, James. "An account of Mr Samuel Brown, his Third Book of East India Plants, with their Names Vertues Description, etc". Philosophical Transactions. 22 (271): 843–862.
  14. ↑ Farine, J. P., Semon, E., Everaerts, C., Abed, D., Grandcolas, P. and Brossut, R. (2002). "Defensive secretion of Therea petiveriana: chemical identification and evidence of an alarm function" (PDF). J. Chem. Ecol. 28 (8): 1629–1640. doi:10.1023/A:1019932630787. PMID   12371815. S2CID   6826801. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ Rao TB, Todd SR (1968). "A new flagellate Trichomitus corydiae from the insect Corydia petiveriana". Rivista di Parassitologia . 29 (2): 91–5. PMID   5709522.
  16. ↑ Nathan Lo, Tiziana Beninati, Fred Stone, James Walker and Luciano Sacchi (2007). "Cockroaches that lack Blattabacterium endosymbionts: the phylogenetically divergent genus Nocticola" (PDF). Biology Letters. 3 (3): 327–330. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0614. PMC   2464682 . PMID   17376757. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-26.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ Fritzsche, I. (2009). "A new species of Therea Billberg, 1820 - (Blattodea: Polyphagidae)". Arthropoda. 17 (2): 6–7.
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