Surinam cockroach
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The Surinam cockroach or greenhouse cockroach (''Pycnoscelus surinamensis'') is a species of burrowing
cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are we ...
. It is a common plant pest endemic to the Indomalayan realm that has spread to tropical and into subtropical regions around the world, and in isolated populations to temperate climates where protective habitat such as greenhouses provide shelter for individuals inadvertently shipped in the soil of plants. Its populations are almost exclusively female, and it reproduces through parthenogenesis, having evolved several clonal strains from its sexual progenitor ''P. indicus''.


Description

Adults are around in length, and have dark brown to black bodies with shiny paler brown wings. The front edge of the
pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum ( dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...
(head shield) has a pale white band. While males are rarely produced, male adults have longer wings than females, completely covering the abdomen, although both sexes are poor flyers. Nymphs are around long at birth, translucent white with orange-brown mandibles and spines, and darker eye spots than the rest of the head. The exoskeleton gradually hardens on exposure to air, becoming a glossy brown in 5 to 6 hours, while its underside and legs remain translucent. Older nymphs develop shiny black anterior abdominal segments, and roughened, dull black posterior segments.


Range

''P. surinamensis'' originated in the Indomalayan region and is now
cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
, found around the world in tropical regions, extending into subtropical regions, and temporarily establishing populations in protective habitats in temperate climates, particularly in greenhouses (also called glasshouses) or other areas heated during colder periods. It can be spread to greenhouses with shipments of tropical plants. In the United States it is common in the southeastern region from North Carolina to Texas, in addition to temporary populations in more temperate climates.


Habitat

''P. surinamensis'' is a burrowing cockroach, commonly burrowing in loose soil, humus, mould, compost piles and lawn thatch, or hiding beneath rocks, rotten branches, trash and other debris. It is considered peridomestic, found living only near human constructions or crops in a 1996 study, and may be considered
synanthropic A synanthrope (from the Greek σύν ''syn'', "together with" + ἄνθρωπος ''anthropos'', "man") is a member of a species of wild animal or plant that lives near, and benefits from, an association with human beings and the somewhat artific ...
. It has a relatively high rate of cutaneous water loss compared to non-burrowing species of cockroaches, and is nearly exclusively associated with moist soil across its range.


Pest

While the species is occasionally found inside homes, it is not a common household pest. It is a plantation and garden pest in tropical regions, and can be especially problematic in heated greenhouses, where large numbers can hide by day and emerge at night, gnawing the softer parts of plants. It is thought to be transferred into homes and businesses in potted plants or mulch used for potted plants. Indoor infestations can often be controlled using sprays or granules on potted plants. Outdoor treatment should focus on infested locations such as wood piles, mulch, and foundation plantings, and a residual barrier spray may be useful around houses.


Parthenogenesis

An unusual aspect of ''P. surinamensis'' is that the species reproduces parthenogenetically, a form of asexual reproduction in which embryos develop from unfertilized eggs. ''P. surinamensis'' reproduce by
thelytokous Thelytoky (from the Greek ''thēlys'' "female" and ''tokos'' "birth") is a type of parthenogenesis in which females are produced from unfertilized eggs, as for example in aphids. Thelytokous parthenogenesis is rare among animals and reported in a ...
parthenogenesis, a type of parthenogenesis in which offspring are almost exclusively female clones. Thelytokous parthenesis is known in about 1% of known animal species. Optional thelkytokous parthenogenesis occurs in several cockroach species when females are isolated from males, including in the common domestic pests ''Blatta orientalis'', ''Blattella germanica'', and ''Periplaneta americana'', but in ''P. surinamensis'' it is obligatory parthenogenesis, its sole means of reproduction. Earlier taxonomy treated P. surinamensis as a species with both sexual and asexual forms, reproducing asexually in some populations, but sexually in other populations. Roth in 1967 applied the name ''P. indicus'' (Fabricius, 1775) to the sexually-reproducing taxon from which the parthenogenetic form ''P. surinamensis'' is descended. While ''P. surinamensis'' is cosmopolitan, ''P. indicus'' is endemic to the Indomalayasian region and adjacent parts of Southeast Asia, and spread just to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
an and
Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...
islands. In ''P. surinamensis'', males are rarely born and are nonfunctional with frequency varying by population. An Australian colony being studied produced several, while none were seen in a Florida colony in over 15 years of study. In a parthenogenetic moth the rate varied by how long a population was stabilized, which suggests the possibility that Australian colony may have developed parthenogenesis more recently than the Florida colony. P. surinamensis has at least 21 diploid clones, born independently from sexual females, meaning the thelytokous parthenogenesis has evolved repeatedly. There are also 11 known triploid clones, produced by backcrosses between clones and ''P. indicus''. Different clones have established populations throughout the species' range, with at least ten different clone populations present in the United States alone. Obligatory parthenogenesis was known only in ''P. surinamensis'' until 2003, when it was reported in a form of the species '' Phyllodromica subaptera''. Asexual forms of ''P. subaptera'', spread through most Mediterranean countries, are morphologically indistinguishable from the sexual form, found only on the Iberian peninsula, suggesting the trait was relatively recently acquired.


Gestation and birth

Reproduction is usually
ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...
, the ootheca carried internally during gestation until nymphs hatch within the body and are delivered, usually at night or in darkness. Occasionally stress or other factors may result in premature release of the ootheca, which can result in non-viability of the eggs. The ootheca itself measures 9x3.5x2.5 mm, housing 30-36 eggs in two rows of alternately spaced segments. Remains of the egg case are expelled around the time the nymphs are being born, sometimes pulled out with the hind limbs, and the ootheca fragments are usually quickly devoured by the newborn nymphs.


Parasite Host

''P. surinamensis'' acts as the intermediate host for the parasitic roundworms ''Oxyspirura mansoni'' and ''Oxyspirura parvorum'', which infect the eyes of poultry. ''O. mansoni'', known as the chicken eyeworm among other names, can cause eye problems ranging from mild conjunctivitis to severe ophthalmia and serious vision impairment in its final hosts, which include chickens, turkeys, guineafowl and peafowl. Its life cycle involves eggs passing through a bird's lachrymal duct, being swallowed and passed in the bird's feces, a ''P. surinamensis'' cockroach eating the feces, larvae emerging in the cockroach, the bird eating the cockroach, and finally the eye worm larvae migrating up the oesophagus and pharynx to the bird's eye. While ''O. mansoni'' is not present in Europe, it is present in many areas of the world, particularly the tropical and subtropical environments where ''P. surinamensis'' is permanently established.


References


External links


Black and white photographs
of top view of ''P. surinamensis'' adult male, two adult females, and one nymph, from ''Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections''.
Drawing
of ''P. surinamensis'' dorsal view of female specimen, plate VIII, figure 1. From a 1917 article by
Morgan Hebard Morgan Hebard (February 23, 1887 – December 28, 1946) was an American entomologist who specialized in orthoptera, and assembled a collection of over 250,000 specimens. Early life and education Morgan Hebard was born on February 23, 1887, in Cl ...
, with a key to the figures on pages 281. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4047686 Cockroaches Insects described in 1758 Cosmopolitan arthropods Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus