BIOTIC ASSOCIATIONS OF COCKROACHES — ROTH & WILLIS 185 



infestations. In heavy infections the coccidia were found in the head, 

 antennae, mouthparts, muscles, legs, salivary glands, nerve cord, as 

 well as fat body. Infection in freshly collected specimens was about 

 3 percent; when large numbers of cockroaches were kept together in 

 culture, the rate of infection increased because the insects ate their 

 dead companions. 



Cleveland et al. (1934) mentioned a coccidium which was some- 

 times generally distributed through the body (head, legs, antennae, 

 etc.) of C. punctiilatus ; this parasite was probably the species de- 

 scribed by Yarwood. 



Order HAPLOSPORIDIA 

 Haplosporidium periplanetae Georgevitch 

 Natural host. — Blatta orientalis, Yugoslavia (Georgevitch, 1953) : 

 This organism was described from the malpighian tubules of the cock- 

 roach where it apparently occurred in a mixed infection with the 

 microsporidian Plistophora periplanetae. See synonymy under Plisto- 

 phora periplanetae. 



Coelosporidium periplanetae (Lutz and Splendore) 



Synonymy. — Noscma periplanetae, Coelosporidium hlattellae, Bcr- 

 tramia hlatellae [after Semans, 1943]. Some of the observations cited 

 under Plistophora periplanetae may pertain to C. periplanetae (see 

 Sprague, 1940). See also Haplosporidium periplanetae. 



Natural hosts. — Blatta orientalis, U.S.S.R. (Epshtein, 191 1) ; 

 U.S.A. (Kudo, 1922; Sprague, 1940) ; Yugoslavia (Ivanic, 1926). 



Blattella germanica, U.S.A. (Crawley, 1905) ; Germany (Wellmer, 

 1910, 1911). 



Periplaneta americana, Brazil (Lutz and Splendore, 1903). 



This organism (fig. 2, B) passes its life cycle living free in the 

 lumina of the malpighian tubules of cockroaches. The elongate troph- 

 ozoite is firmly attached to the wall of the tubule as are clusters of 

 immature spores. Mature spores are freed into the lumina of the 

 tubules from whence they pass to the exterior. Sprague (1940) 

 examined about 200 wild-caught B. orientalis and found them to be 

 practically 100 percent infected. 



Order MICROSPORIDIA 



Family NOSEMATIDAE 



Plistophora kudoi Sprague and Ramsey 



Natural host. — Blatta orientalis, U.S.A., Illinois, West Virginia, 



Kentucky (Sprague and Ramsey, 1941, 1942) : Found in the epithe- 



