We have examined the time to dorsal closure in embryos of several cockroach species in three families: Blattidae, Blattellidae, and Blaberidae. With two notable exceptions, Blattella germanica and Diploptera punctata, cockroaches undergo closure of the dorsal body wall at about 50% of total embryo development time. With this knowledge in hand, we have now undertaken an examination of the products of the corpora allata at comparable developmental stages in evolutionary disparate cockroach species.
Species 1: Dictyoptera Blattidae Periplaneta americana (American cockroach)
Species 2: Dictyoptera Blattellidae Blattella germanica (German cockroach)
Species 3: Dictyoptera Blaberidae Diploptera punctata (beetle cockroach)
Keywords: cockroaches, ootheca, oviparity, ooviviparity, viviparity, juvenile hormone, methyl farnesoate
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA