Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Blattodea (Cockroaches, termites) ➔ Family Blattidae
Periplaneta australasiae (Fabricius, 1775)
Australische Schabe Australian Cockroach
Synonyms and other combinations:
Periplaneta aurantiaca Stoll, 1813 | Periplaneta australasiae Fabricius, 1775 ? | Periplaneta domingensis Palisot de Beauvois, 1805 | Periplaneta emittens Walker, F., 1871 | Periplaneta inclusa Walker, F., 1868 ? | Periplaneta repanda Walker, F., 1868 | Periplaneta subcincta Walker, F., 1868 | Periplaneta subornata Walker, F., 1871 | Periplaneta zonata Haan, 1842 |
(?: ambiguous synonym)
ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
2006-03-03 17:10:19
ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
2006-03-03 09:16:06
det. Knud Stelling
ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
2006-03-03 09:20:20
det. Knud Stelling
nymph L6
ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
2013-11-29 10:33:08
det. Danilo Matzke
nymph L6
ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
2013-11-29 10:29:49
det. Danilo Matzke
Classification:
Periplaneta australasiae belongs to the subfamily Blattinae.Distribution:
Circumtropical (African origin)Habitat:
Preferably in tropical warm and humid areas; outside the tropics only in sheltered places like basements, in wall cracks of buildings and sewers, often in zoological and botanical gardens, greenhouses and tropic houses.Habitus:
The 23 to 35 mm large Periplaneta australasiae has a brown basic color. The dark pronotum shows a yellowish edge. The fore wings (tegmina) show a pale or yellow longitudinal stripe at the base of the outer edge. Late instar nymphs can be identified by the bright yellow spots on the margins of mesonotum, metanotum and abdomen.Adults of Periplaneta australasiae differ from those of the slightly larger Periplaneta americana occurring in the same habitat by the yellowish longitudinal stripe at the base of the outer edge of the fore wings.
Biology:
The Australian cockroach is a very thermophilic species. Its preferred temperature is around 30 °C.The females of Periplaneta australasiae lay 22 to 24 eggs in an ootheca. Oothecae are stable cocoons, in which the eggs are glued together. The Ootheca is deposited at a place suitable for the development of larvae. A female can produce about 20 - 30 oothecae in her lifetime. Under favorable conditions, the larvae hatch after about 40 days from the eggs. Until reaching sexual maturity, Periplaneta larvae shed about 8 to 13 times. Overall, the larval stage lasts about 1 year. Data on the life expectancy of adults range from 4 months to 2 years.
Periplaneta australasiae feeds on a wide array of organic (including decaying) matter. It also feeds on living plants.
References, further reading, links:
- Beccaloni G.W. (2016). CockroachSF: Cockroach Species File (version 5.0/5.0, Dec 2015). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2016 Annual Checklist (Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Flann C., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., eds). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2016. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-884X.
- Matzke, D.: Beiträge zur Insektenfauna Sachsens - Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Larven sächsischer Schaben, Mitteilungen Sächsischer Entomologen, Bd.32 (2013), Nr.105, 68-71
- Robinson, William H.: Urban Insects and Arachnids: A Handbook of Urban Entomology, Cambridge University Press, 14 April 2005, pp. 45–46, 51–54. ISBN 978-0-521-81253-5.