Evaluations on the Lethal, Choice and Secondary Effects of Four Insecticidal Baits against the German Cockroach (Blattaria, Blattellidae)

ABSTRACT The laboratory studies were carried out for evaluating control effects of four commercial insecticidal baits such as two different hydramethylnon [2.0%(AI)] products (DBK^® and Combat‐Gold^®), fipronil [0.05 %(AI)] (Combat‐Power^®) and (0.6% chlorpyrifos [0.6%(AI)] (Raid‐Roachbait^®) against German cockroaches (Blattella germanica). The control rates of four kinds of toxic baits were all 100.0% mortality of German cockroaches in 5 days after treatment. The results of chlorpyrifos and fipronil brought 100.0% mortalities in 2 to 3 days after treatment, respectively. After 3 day treatment, there was no significant difference of control effect among the four toxic baits. As a result of this study, fipnonil and chlorpyrifos showed faster killing action against German cockroaches than the two hydramethylnon formulation products. In the choice test, DBK^® (hydramethylnon) (average 17.0 ind.) significantly attracted more German cockroaches than Combat‐Gold^® (hydramethylnon) (avg. 7.0 ind.), Combat‐Power^® (fipronil) (avg. 5.3 ind.) and Raid‐Roachbait^® (chlorpyrifos) (avg. 3.3 ind.). The difference in attraction effects came 10 minutes after treatment. In order to evaluate the secondary killing effect of toxic baits by coprophagy against adult Blattella germanica, the comparative test was carried out. The adult mortality rates were significantly different among the four toxic baits showing 86.7% mortality for fipronil, 60.0% for hydramethylnon (DBK^®), 30.0% for chlorpyrifos, and below 13.3% for hydramethylnon (Combat‐Gold^®) in 6 days. During the first 12 days, fipronil showed the highest mortality rate (90.0%), followed by hydramethylnon (DBK^®) (60.0%). The secondary killing effect of toxic baits by coprophagy appeared in all of the baits against adult Blattella germanica.     

Proteinase inhibitors in Nauphoeta cinerea midgut.

Proteinase inhibitors were studied in the midgut of Nauphoeta cinerea Oliv. (Blattoptera: Blaberidae) in experimental conditions, excluding their nutritional origin. One trypsin inhibitor (TI) with M(r) 8,000 and two subtilisin inhibitors (SI1 and SI2) with M(r) 13,000 and 8,000 were detected after fractionation of total protein preparation on Sephadex G-50. Ninety-four percent of both types of inhibitors was located in anterior midgut (AM). TI was 120-fold purified by FPLC-chromatography on Mono Q. Its isoelectric point was 4.3. TI lost a large part of activity in acidic and especially in alkaline medium. TI, SI1, and SI2 effectively inhibited activities of endogenous proteinases from posterior midgut (PM) of the cockroach. A search for inhibitor of endogenous unusual SH-dependent proteinase from AM revealed in AM a new inhibitor with M(r) 18,000. It was also inactivated in alkaline medium and was effective against proteinases from PM along with unusual SH-dependent proteinase from AM. A mechanism of regulation of activity of midgut proteinases is proposed based on pH-stability of inhibitors.     

Calling behavior of the female german cockroach,Blattella germanica (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

Virgin German cockroach females, Blattella germanica(L.), were observed, for the first time, to exhibit a characteristic calling behavior during which females emit a volatile sex pheromone. Under a photoperiod of 12L12D, the percentage of 7-day-old virgin females that exhibited this behavior peaked before the end of the scotophase in a similar pattern to the diel periodicity of mating. A clear relationship was evident between calling and stages of sexual receptivity during successive gonotrophic cycles. Females initiated calling 5–6 days after the imaginal molt, when their basal oocytes were 1.6 mm long. If not mated, females continued to exhibit bouts of calling during the next 3–4 days until 24 h before ovulation. Calling was completely suppressed by mating as well as the presence of an egg case in the genital atrium in both virgin and mated gravid females. We suggest that calling and the emission of a volatile sex pheromone serve to attract males from a distance as well as to potentiate responses to contact sex pheromone in aggregations.     

Actions of a coral toxin analogue (bipinnatin-B) on an insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

The lophotoxin analogue, bipinnatin-B, is a potent neurotoxin isolated from the gorgonian coral Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata. When tested on the cell body of an identified motor neurone, the fast coxal depressor motor neurone (Df) in the cockroach metathoracic ganglion, bipinnatin-B, at concentrations of 10 micronM,partially blocked nicotine-induced depolarization. Blockade of the response to nicotine was almost complete at 30 micronM bipinnatin-B, and was partially reversible on rebathing the preparation in normal saline. Responses of the same neurone to GABA were unaffected by 30 micronM bipinnatin-B.     

Characterization of phenylalkylamine binding sites in insect (Periplaneta americana) nervous system and skeletal muscle membranes

This study has identified specific, stereoselective phenylalkylamine (PAA, (±)- [³H]verapamil) binding sites of low-affinity and high-density in cockroach (Periplaneta americana) nervous system and skeletal muscle membranes. Scatchard transformation of equilibrium binding data revealed a single population of binding sites in both tissues with dissociation constants (K_d) of 273 nM and 377 nM and binding capacities (B_max) of 23 pmol·mg protein^?1 and 37pmol·mg protein^?1 for cockroach nervous tissue and skeletal muscle membranes, respectively. The PAA binding site in cockroach nervous tissue membranes was found to be dihydropyridine (DHP)-insensitive, whereas the corresponding site in cockroach skeletal muscle membranes was DHP-sensitive. This property of a DHP-sensitive PAA receptor distinguishes the binding sites identified in cockroach skeletal muscle from those in cockroach nervous tissue and indicates that pharmacologically distinct putative Ca²⁺ channel subtypes are present in insect nerve and muscle. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Révision de l'ichnogenre Coprulus Richter & Richter, 1939, et description de quelques nouvelles espèces du Jurassique supérieur

Coprulus, described by R. Richter & E. Richter (1939a) is very abundant in the Oxfordian marls and muddy limestones of the French Jura Mountains. These small cylindrical calcareous bodies are characterised by longitudinal grooves. They have been often found in washings but are also visible in thin sections. Coprulus is rarely mentioned by micropaleontologists but its stratigraphical and geographical range is certainly very extended. Often considered as Problematica, this trace fossil has been differently interpreted. This work confirms and specifies the results of F. Gramann (1966): Coprulus represents a fecal pellet of a deposit-feeder mollusc (Nuculidae?). Three new ichnospecies are described herein and the ichnogenus Coprulus is compared with Bactryllium, Coptocampylodon and Tomaculum.     

Reproductive biology of the German cockroach,Blattella germanica: Juvenile hormone as a pleiotropic master regulator

Juvenile hormone (JH) exerts major pleiotropic effects on cockroach development and reproduction. The production of JH by the corpora allata (CA) in the adult female German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is dependent upon and modulated by both internal and environmental stimuli. Mating, intake of high-quality food, social interactions, and the presence of vitellogenic ovaries facilitate JH synthesis. Conversely, starvation, deficient diets, enforced virginity, isolation, and a pre- or post-vitellogenic ovary cause the CA to produce less JH. Sensory stimulation of the genital vestibulum by the ootheca also inhibits the CA via signals that ascend the ventral nerve cord. All these stimulatory and inhibitory signals are integrated by the brain, and a preponderance of favorable signals results in a graded lifting of brain inhibition, permitting the synthesis and release of JH. The effects of inhibitory signals on JH biosynthesis can be lifted experimentally by severing nervous connections between the brain and the CA. Such an operation accelerates activation of the CA. Besides controlling gonadal maturation in females, JH concurrently regulates the production of sexual signals, including both attractant- and courtship-eliciting pheromones, and the behavioral expression of calling (pheromone release) and sexual receptivity. Although JH is required for the expression of copulatory readiness in female B. germanica, it appears that signals associated with copulation (spermatophore, sperm, accessory secretions) can inhibit this behavioral state even when titers of JH are permissive for receptivity. These observations suggest that JH might regulate sexual receptivity in females indirectly through other directives. In males, JH accelerates not only the onset of sexual readiness but also synthesis of accessory reproductive products. Lastly, we present a novel cockroach control strategy that is based on the intimate association between food intake and rising JH titers in B. germanica females. JH analogs cause abortion of fertile oothecae in gravid females. In turn, rising JH titers and vitellogenic oocytes induce feeding in females. With strategic placement of insecticidal baits and JH analogs, gravid females, which normally feed little and are difficult to control, can thus be effectively targeted for elimination. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 35:405–426, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Comparisons of toxic baits for controlling the cockroach, Blattella germanica: attractiveness and feeding stimulation

Female German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.) (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae) and nymphs (stages 1, 3 and 6) were used to test the attractiveness and the feeding stimulation of several commercial gel formulations of insecticide food baits in laboratory binary choice tests. The four toxic gel baits tested were: 'Avert' (0.05% abamectin=avermectin B1), 'Drax' (33.3% boric acid), 'Goliath' (0.05% fipronil) and 'Maxforce' (2.15% hydramethylnon). The attractiveness of a bait was estimated by the number of cockroaches that chose it first, and by their tendency to change to it secondarily. Feeding stimulation was estimated by the mean duration of feeding bouts and total duration of food intake. Variability of these factors was assessed in relation to age of cockroaches and to age of baits. With a few exceptions, cockroach age did not affect performance in any of these tests. Attractiveness to B. germanica ranked 'Goliath' gel higher than 'Avert', 'Drax' and 'Maxforce' gels, whether or not the active ingredient fipronil was present in 'Goliath' gel. Feeding stimulation ranked 'Avert' and 'Maxforce' gels higher than 'Goliath' gel, and 'Drax' gel was inferior. With ageing up to 3 months, the feeding stimulation power of 'Goliath' and 'Maxforce' gels increased, whereas that of 'Avert' fluctuated. Assuming that all types of bait effectively kill cockroaches once ingested, these results illustrate the importance of behavioural observations on bait efficiency and show that ranking of these different food baits varies in relation to the parameter analysed.     

Evolution of host- and habitat association in the wood-feeding cockroach, Cryptocercus

Members of the cockroach genus Cryptocercus are subsocial insects that live in temperate forests and feed on decomposing logs. At present, seven species are recognized worldwide: four in the eastern USA, one in the western USA, and one each in Russia and China. Genetic variation within and among the Nearctic species has been characterized extensively in previous studies. However, whether there has been a corresponding divergence in the host and habitat association of Cryptocercus species is not known. Here, we report on differences in host and habitat association among six of the seven Cryptocercus species, estimated from field observations, elevation data, and land cover data. Our results indicated that the eastern and western USA species differ from one another in their distribution patterns, abundance, and habitat association. The eastern USA species are associated largely with deciduous forests, whereas the western USA and the Russian species are associated with evergreen forests. Thus, the eastern USA species, which are evolutionarily the most recent ones, have adapted to a different set of tree species relative to the basal species. There were also differences in the habitat association of the various species. Specifically, in the eastern USA, Cryptocercus darwini , evolutionarily the most recent species, occupied a habitat that is predominantly at low elevation [<400 m above sea level (ASL)] while all the other Nearctic species and the Russian species occupied a habitat that is at relatively higher elevations (>400 m ASL). Mapping of the above traits on a phylogenetic tree revealed that the evolutionary trend in Cryptocercus with regard to host and habitat association has been toward the utilization of low elevation habitats dominated by deciduous forests. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 75 , 163–172.