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Megaloblatta

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Genus of cockroaches

Megaloblatta
Megaloblatta longipennis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Family: Ectobiidae
Subfamily: Nyctiborinae
Genus: Megaloblatta
Dohrn, 1887
Species

Megaloblatta is a genus of Neotropical cockroaches in the family Ectobiidae. Species in this genus are 4 to 9.7 cm (1.6–3.8 in) long and can have a wingspan of up to 20 cm (8 in); the world's largest cockroach by length and wingspan is M. longipennis.

Megaloblatta, like many other insects, use stridulation in order to steer their predators away. The stridulating insects are less likely to be preyed upon in comparison to individuals of the species with an inability to stridulate.

Range

Megaloblatta blaberoides in Costa Rica; the three other species are all restricted to South America

The four Megaloblatta species have separate distributions: M. blaberoides ranges from southern Mexico, through Central America to Colombia and Ecuador; M. insignis is restricted to French Guiana and Suriname; M. longipennis is restricted to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru (although sometimes reported from Panama, this is based on misidentifications of M. blaberoides); and M. regina is from Amazonian Ecuador and Brazil.

See also

References

  1. ^ Estrada-Álvarez, Julio C. (December 2012). "Primer registro de Megaloblatta Dohrn, 1887 (Dictyoptera: Ectobiidae: Nyctiborinae) para México". Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa. 51: 349–350.
  2. "Largest cockroach". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  3. Alpert, Gary; Frye, Matthew (2014). "Bugs in Strange Places: The Brown-banded Cockroach" (PDF). NYS IPM Type: Community IPM Fact Sheet. New York State IPM Program.
  4. Bell, W., Fraser, J., Schal, C. (1981). Disturbance stridulation and chemical defense in nymphs of the tropical cockroach Megaloblatta blaberoides. Journal of Insect Physiology, 28(6), 541-552. Retrieved July 2, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1910(82)90035-X.
  5. Masters, W. (1979). Insect Disturbance Stridulation: Its Defensive Role. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 5(2), 187-200. Retrieved July 2, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/4599228.
  6. VIDLIČKA, ĽUBOMÍR (2013). "Cockroaches (Blattaria) of Ecuador—checklist and history of research". Zootaxa. 3599 (5). Magnolia Press: 401–455. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3599.5.1. PMID 24613997.
  7. Salazar-E, J.A.; Maláver, J.C.R. (2012). "Relación e ilustración de algunas especies de Nyctiborinae de Colombia y Costa Rica (Insecta, Blattodea, Ectobiidae)". Bol. Cient. Mus. Hist. Nat. Univ. Caldas. 16 (2).
  8. "Genus Megaloblatta Dohrn, 1887". Cockroach Species File. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
Taxon identifiers
Megaloblatta


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