Cockroach identification

In the cockroach identification study Carlson and Brenner found that the composition of the outer, waxy layer of a roach is distinct to a particular species. Thus, by dissolving this waxy coating and injecting it into the gas stream of a gas chromatograph, scientists can identify the cockroach unambiguously in less than half an hour. This technique is particularly useful for identifying hybrid Asian-German cockroaches, which have become a major problem for the food industry. 

The EAG technique as a bioassay tool for active fractions has been used in the identification of sex pheromones of many insect species in several orders and remains as a key factor in the identification of pheromones. In the recent identification of the brownbanded cockroach pheromone supellapyrone (7) (Figure 2), the EAG technique was used throughout the entire process of isolating and purifying active material from 12,000... 

Santos, A. B., Chapman, M. D., Aalberse, R. C., Vailes, L. D., Ferian, V. P., Oliver, C., Rizzo, M. C., Naspitz, C. K., and Arruda, L. K. (1999). Cockroach allergens and asthma in Brazil Identification of tropomyosin as a major allergen with potential cross-reactivity with mite and shrimp allergens. /. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 104, 329-337. 

An important step toward the correct identification of the sex pheromone of P. americana was the identification of several phytochemicals, such as bomyl acetate and santalol, that stimulated courtship behavior in males (Bowers and Bodenstein, 1971 see p. 196). Some years later, Tahara etal. (1975) and Kitamuta et al. (1976) reported that germacrene-D, extracted from composite plant species, stimulated sexual behavior in males of P. americana and the Japanese cockroach Periplaneta japonica Karny. Persoons etal. (1974, 1976) determined, on the basis... 

This study provided necessary information toward the chemical identification of the sex pheromone of P lata, which can then be used to monitor its population in relation to that of P. borealis, or as a means to control the cockroach itself, as it is an occasional indoor pest. We have carried out a similar study with Caudell s wood cockroach, Parcoblatta caudelli Hebard, and have demonstrated that in this species calling also is associated with pheromone release and that the sex pheromone is produced in tergites 1-7 (Gemeno et al, 2003b). 

Laboratory observations remain essential because they can delineate the timing of mate finding and mating in relation to other activities, and observations can provide important information about interactions between the sexes and the role of sex pheromones. The identification of sex pheromones also requires standard laboratory behavioral assays. We urge students of cockroach behavior and chemical ecology to develop more realistic behavioral assays that will facilitate the identification of sex pheromones as well as a better understanding of their role in cockroach mating systems. 

Fukui, M. and Takahashi, S. (1983). Studies on the mating behavior of the cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea (Olivier) (Dictyoptera Blaberidae) III. Isolation and identification of intermale recognition pheromone. Applied Entomology and Zoology 18 351-356. 

American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. Isolation and partial identification of two excitants. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Weteschappen, Series C, Biological and Medical Sciences 77 201-204. 

Seducin, male sex pheromone of the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea isolation, identification, and bioassay. Journal of Chemical Ecology 16 2899-2912. 

And I am afraid that the American counterpart journal, Science, has suffered a similar deterioration. It, too, has abandoned multidisciplinary interest, but in a different direction. They are now dedicated to chromosomes, and nucleotide identification, and are totally captivated by the attention paid to, and the apparent importance of, the human genome project. There is where you automatically go to publish, now, if you have unraveled some DNA sequence from the Latvian cockroach. 

Almost a decade before the term pheromone was coined, Roth and Willis (1952) conducted seminal experiments that characterized volatile and contact pheromones in cockroaches. Louis Roth s research integrated studies of endocrinology and behavior, and the influence of this approach was reflected in Barth s early articulation of the interplay between the endocrine system and sexual behavior. In later years cockroaches continued to serve as important models for invertebrate endocrinology (Scharrer, 1987 Tobe and Stay, 1985), but research on pheromones lagged, in part due to technical difficulties in sex pheromone identification. Below, we highlight some of the many issues yet to be resolved in the physiological and behavioral regulation of sex pheromone production and emission in cockroaches. 

Identification of cockroach sex pheromones. More than two decades have passed since the identification and chemical synthesis of periplanone-B in... 

Eliyahu, D., Nojima, S., Capracotta, S.S., Comins, D.L. and Schal, C. (2008). Identification of cuticular lipids eliciting interspecific courtship in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica. Naturwissenschaften, 95,403 112. 

Insects at the interfaces between agricultural and urban pests, e.g. termites, and between medical and urban pests, e.g. flies, wasps, and cockroaches, have been extensively studied. Since morphological identification of many close species is difficult, not only at various larval stages but also at the adult stage, detection of even small differences in cuticular compounds can be useful. A full presentation of all evidence to support this claim is beyond the scope of this chapter and would be repetitive. Instead, this section presents a few typical examples in which CHC analysis has been used to study insects with economic impact in various sectors. 

B. asahinai, B. germanica, and B. vaga. The same authors performed chemotaxonomic identification of different Blattella cockroaches in Taiwan and various Pacific Basin locations (Brenner et al 1993). 

Brenner, R. J., Carlson, D. A., Rothe, L.M. and Paterson, R. S. (1993). Morphological and chemotaxonomic identification ofBlatella cockroaches (Blattaria Blattellidae) from Taiwan and selected Pacific basin locations. Invertebrate taxonomy, 7, 1205-1219. 

Carlson, D. A. (1988). Hydrocarbons for identification and phenetic comparisons Cockroaches, honey bees and tsetse flies. Florida Entomol., 71, 333-345. 

Identification of the sex pheromone of the German Cockroach, Blattella germanica. Science, 307, 1104-1106. 

Ayuso, R., Reese, G., Arruda, L.K., Chapman, M.D., Lehrer, S.B. 2002b. Identification of IgE-binding epitopes in allergenic invertebrate tropomyosins Per a 7, Pen a 1 and Der p 10 with cockroach and shrimp-allergic sera. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 109(1) S94-S94. 

The identification of periplanone-A, one of the two sex pheromones of the American cockroach, is reported. It is a sesquiterpenoid, Ci5H2o02> which readily isomerizes to a more stable but biologically inactive compound. The structures of both compounds are deduced from spectroscopic data. Periplanone-A is 7-methylene-4-isopropyl-12-oxa-tricyclo [4.4.2.01 5] -9-dodecene-2-one ... 

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