222 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I4I 



Cockroach, England? (Ealand, 191 5) : Cockroaches may carry the 

 hypopial stage of the cheese mite. 



CONTROL OF MITES IN COCKROACH COLONIES 



Fisk (1951) eliminated the mites [possibly Piw^/ia/'////M.y podapoli- 

 pophagns (Baker et al., 1956)] in his cockroach colony by using a 5- 

 percent spray and a s-percent dust of p-chlorophenyl, p-chlorobenzene 

 sulfonate. The exterior of the cockroach containers were sprayed 

 with the solution and the interior, including the insects, were dusted. 

 Within a month the mites had disappeared and the vigor of the cock- 

 roach colony improved. Piquett and Fales (1952) used flowers of 

 sulfur and general sanitary procedures for eliminating the mites in 

 laboratory colonies of Blatta orientalis; they cleaned the dishes every 

 few days and applied grease around the edges of the containers to 

 prevent new mite invasions. Oadri (1938) employed similar control 

 measures. 



Class CHILOPODA 



Large centipedes which entered houses in India probably sought out 

 cockroaches (Maxwell-Lefroy, 1909). In Puerto Rico, centipedes 

 entered homes to which they were attracted by cockroaches (Sein, 

 1923). In Hawaii, centipedes preyed on insects generally but espe- 

 cially on cockroaches (Bryan, 1915). Sonan (1924) reported that in 

 Formosa and Okinawa Islands a species of centipede 5 to 6 inches 

 long comes into the houses and devours both adults and nymphs of 

 Periplaneta americana or P. australasiae. Zimmerman (1948) found 

 P. australasiae breeding by scores in rock piles in Hawaii accompanied 

 by large numbers of Scolopendra and large spiders that probably 

 preyed upon the cockroaches. 



Order SCUTIGEROMORPHA 



Family SCUTIGERIDAE 



Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus) 



Synonymy. — Scutigera forceps 'R.z.^nesc^nt [Crabill, 1952]. 



Common name. — House centipede. 



Natural prey. — Cockroaches, U.S.A. (Felt, 1909; Back, 1947; 

 Auerbach, 195 1; Crabill, 1952; and others): This predator-prey 

 relationship seems to be based on good circumstantial evidence (Cra- 

 bill, personal communication, 1953). 



Experimental prey. — BlatteUa gernianica, newly hatched nymphs 



