Parcoblatta americana
| Parcoblatta americana | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Blattodea |
| Family: | Ectobiidae |
| Genus: | Parcoblatta |
| Species: | P. americana |
| Binomial name | |
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Parcoblatta americana (Scudder, 1900) or (Scudder, 1901) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Parcoblatta americana, the western wood cockroach, is a species of wood cockroach that occurs in Mexico and the western United States.
The species has significant size and color variation, thought to be due to environmental conditions, particularly the effect of aridity.
The male of the species has normal, fully developed tegmina and wings, and a tuft of hairs on the back of its middle abdomen. The general coloration in the male can vary from shining dark brown or blackish to a pale yellowish to slightly reddish tan. The tegmina are translucent in all colorations, and the ocelli (simple eye spots) are a yellowish tan.
Females of the species have very greatly reduced tegmina, represented by lobe-like lateral pads, and no hind wings. The female general coloration ranges from a shining reddish orange or brown, slightly darker on the back of the abdomen, to a shining dark brown, or shining black with blackish brown underparts. The ocelli are tannish in all colorations.
Morgan Hebard's 1917 description included measurement ranges based on 14 male specimens and 7 female specimens:
The male P. americana has a single specialized area on its abdomen, on the back of its median segment, in the form of a tuft of agglutinated hairs.Parcoblatta zebra is the only other male of the Parcoblatta genus that shares this characteristic, but on P. americana the tuft is small and quadrate (squarish), with the rest of the segment showing little specialization, while on P. zebra the tuft is much broader, with the rest of the segment showing further specialization. The male Parcoblatta virginica also has a single specialized area on its abdomen, but it has minute hairs scattered over a large specialized area on the back of its median segment, rather than a tuft of agglutinated hairs.
The female Parcoblatta bolliana is the only other female of the Parcoblatta genus that has such significantly reduced tegmina and absence of hind wings. The female P. bolliana is distinguished from P. americana by its compact form, space between its compound eyes less than the space between its antennal sockets, its tegmina having few traces of venation, and its supra-anal plate weakly produced with its side edges converging to a broadly rounded apex, while the P. americana having a normal, less compact form, space between its compound eyes noticeably wider than the space between its antennal sockets, its tegmina have visible venation, its supra-anal plate is normally produced with its side edges converging to a sharply rounded apex.
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Wikipedia