BIOTIC ASSOCIATIONS OF COCKROACHES — ROTH & WILLIS 257 



trichotommn Thunberg or Ilex rotunda Thunberg. Kohriba (1957), 

 on the other hand, found both sexes sucking sap of Abies sp. and 

 other trees from points injured by the rostrum of cicadas. Kamo 

 (1957) observed that the female wasp grasped the cockroach by a 

 tergum and stung it several times in the thorax. The wasp always 

 amputated the antennae of the prey and sucked up the fluid oozing 

 from the cut antennae. The wasp egg was placed on the mesocoxa of 

 the cockroach. In the laboratory as many as three cockroaches, each 

 with a wasp egg, were stored in artificial nests per day. Kohriba 

 (1957) observed similar behavior in the laboratory and made these 

 additional notes. The paralyzed cockroach could move its legs and 

 was led to the nest by the wasp which seized its antennae. The egg 

 hatched in 2 days, and after sucking up body fluid for 2 days the 

 larva began to devour the prey. Three days later the larva spun its 

 cocoon, and about one month after spinning a female wasp emerged. 



Ampulex assimilis Kohl 



Natural hosts. — Blatta lateralis, wingless females, Iraq (Kingston, 

 1925) : Nesting sites are holes in palm trees, galleries of beetles, or 

 tunnels in ground. The wasp first seizes a cockroach by the edge of its 

 thorax and stings it in the thoracic region, then seizes the cockroach 

 by an antenna and pulls and leads it to the nest. The wasp deposits 

 her egg on the outer surface of the femur of the cockroach's midleg. 

 The nest is closed with debris ; later the cockroach recovers from the 

 sting. The wasp larva first feeds externally, then bores into the cock- 

 roach and devours the internal organs. Pupation occurs inside the 

 exoskeleton of the cockroach. 



Ampulex canaliculata (Say) 



Synonymy. — Rhino psis caniculatus. 



Natural hosts. — Ischnoptera sp., U.S.A. (Krombein, 1951). 



Lohoptcrella dimidiatipcs, Hawaii (Williams, 1928a, 1929). 



Parcohlatta pensylvanicaf MacNay (1954) referred to a rare 

 sphecoid wasp in eastern Canada which provisioned its nest with 

 nymphs and adults of P. pensylvanica. Dr. W. R. M. Mason (per- 

 sonal communication, 1957) wrote us that although this wasp was 

 Ampulex canaliculata, it was not reared from the cockroach but was 

 swept from a pine tree. There are no positive records linking A. 

 canaliculata with P. pensylvanica. 



Experimental host. — Parcohlatta virginica, females, U.S.A., Alis- 

 souri (Williams, 1928a, 1929) : figure 6. 



