''Parcoblatta divisa'', the southern wood cockroach, is a species of
cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests.
Modern cockro ...
native to the United States.
[
Due to morphological similarities, it was earlier considered a subspecies of '' Parcoblatta pensylvanica'', termed ''P. pensylvanica divisa'', found in the lower part of the southeastern United States.][ In particular, males of the two species are different from others of their genus in that the seventh dorsal abdominal segment conceals almost all of the eighth segment (more pronounced in ''P. pensylvanica''), and share a specialialized character of protuberances of the median segment.][ (The article comprises the whole issue.)]
Individuals of the species are typically dark in color, but a pale morph is uniquely found in Alachua County, Florida
Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida.
History Prehistory and ear ...
, with no dark individuals among hundreds of specimens collected from the location.
Distribution
The distribution of the species includes the eastern and southeastern United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.[
]
Habitat
''Parcoblatta divisa'' has been found in diverse habitats including dry pine lands, oak scrub, moist hammocks of northern Florida, and cool ravines along Florida's Apalachicola River
The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...
.[
Many collected specimens have been taken from under signs attached to trees (]red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
and white oak
''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...
s, shortleaf and longleaf pines
The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...
, American sweet gum
''Liquidambar styraciflua'', commonly known as the American sweetgum among other names, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central A ...
, and other deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
trees), and trapped in molasses-baited jars.[ One researcher who collected specimens extensively found it to be the most adaptable of the ''Parcoblatta'' species, trapping adults among logs and undergrowth on the borders of woodland areas, and taking specimens from pasture grasses, in grass under backyard trees, under dried ]cow dung
Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow poop or cow manure, is the waste product (faeces) of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle ("cows"), bison ("buffalo"), yak, and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residue of p ...
, under trash and debris at woodland campsights, and from homes in wooded areas, which the species is sometimes reported to invade.[
]
Additional images
File:Parcoblatta divisa adult male North Carolina.jpg, Adult male
File:Parcoblatta divisa male nymph North Carolina.jpg, Male ''P. divisa'' nymph from North Carolina.
References
External links
Drawings
from a 1917 article by Morgan Hebard. Plate V, labeled 11-16, of ''P. divisa'' body parts and views of two female specimens, one with exceptionally developed wings. Key to drawings on pages 278-279.
Cockroaches
Insects described in 1893
{{cockroach-stub