Abstract
The insect community of the rainforest pyramid at Moody Gardens, Galveston. Texas, was determined. The insect community within the rainforest pyramid consisted of Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus), Periplaneta australasiae (Fabricius), Evania appendigaster Linnaeus, Solenopsis invicta Buren and Euborellia annulipes (Lucas). Aprostocetus hagenowii (Ratzeburg) is a gregarious parasitoid in the family Eulophidae. This wasp parasitizes oothecae from various species of cockroaches. Aprostocetus hagenowii was released into the rainforest pyramid in l 996. Since 1996, this parasitoid has established within the rainforest pyramid and has reduced the cockroach population to an aesthetically acceptable level. Sex ratio of offspring, offspring numbers and timing of searching were examined for A. hagenowii. Parental sex ratios of A. hagenowii appear to have no influence on the progeny sex ratio. In the laboratory, total numbers of offspring that emerge from a single oothcca increase until there are 20 wasps each of females and males within the petri dish. Parasitization did not occur in any oothecae placed in the rainforest pyramid during a searching study. When this experiment was run in the laboratory, one ootheca was parasitized.
Johnson, Elizabrth N.M (1999). Biology of Aprostocetus Hagenowii (Ratzeburg), a parasitoid of cockroaches, and insect community composition in an interiorscape. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1999 -THESIS -J60.