Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs BlattodeaBlattodea Index Calolampra sp Desmozosteria cincta Ellipsidion australe Ellipsidion humarale Pycnoscelus sp
Member of genus Pycnoscelus, possibly Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Surijnam Cockroach), it is one of the burrowing cockroach and considered a pest species in Australia. It is found tropical and subtropical regions, with isolated populations in temperate climates (usually in protective habitats such as pot plants and green houses.
Its populations are almost exclusively female, and it reproduces through parthenogenesis, having evolved several clonal strains from its sexual progenitor P. indicus.
Nymphs are around 4.5 mm 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.
Adults are around 18–25 mm in length, and have dark brown to black bodies with shiny paler brown wings.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Blattodea
- Superfamily: Blaberoidea
- Family: Blaberidae
- Subfamily: Pycnoscelinae
- Genus: Pycnoscelus
- Species: Pycnoscelus surinamensis
Footnote & References
- Many thanks to Matthew Connors for ID, member of Australasian Beetles Only, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1180404322409639/
- Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/6f9cff83-c63a-4ded-b6df-0b60394cda9f
- Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758), Surinam Cockroach, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/091e5d5f-bb90-4e8e-ae40-1a039136c3aa
Alice Springs BlattodeaBlattodea Index Calolampra sp Desmozosteria cincta Ellipsidion australe Ellipsidion humarale Pycnoscelus sp
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