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Species Attaphila fungicola - Ant Cockroach

Attaphila fungicola Wheeler - Attaphila fungicola
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Blattodea (Cockroaches and Termites)
Superfamily Blaberoidea
Family Ectobiidae
Subfamily Blattellinae
Genus Attaphila
Species fungicola (Ant Cockroach)
Other Common Names
Atta Roach
Explanation of Names
Attaphila fungicola Wheeler, 1900
Range
Louisiana to Columbia (1)
Life Cycle
Attaphila fungicola lives in the nests of leaf-cutter ants (Atta texana and A. cephalotes) and uses the female winged reproductives (i.e., female alates) of its host as vectors for the first phase of its dispersal. (1)
Print References
Phillips, Z.I., M.M. Zhang, & U.G. Mueller. 2017. Dispersal of Attaphila fungicola, a symbiotic cockroach of leaf-cutter ants. Insectes Sociaux. 64(2): 277–284. (1)
Rodríguez JG, Montoya-Lerma J, Calle Z (2013) First record of Attaphila fungicola (Blattaria: Polyphagidae) in Atta cephalotes nests (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae) in Colombia. Bol Cient Mus Hist Nat Univ Caldas 17: 219–225.
Wheeler, W.M. (1900). A new myrmecophile from the mushroom gardens of the Texan leaf-cutting ant. The American Naturalist. 34(407): 851–862. (JSTOR)
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Dispersal of Attaphila fungicola, a symbiotic cockroach of leaf-cutter ants.
Phillips, Z.I., M.M. Zhang, & U.G. Mueller. 2017. Insectes Sociaux. 64(2): 277–284.
2.Insects Unlocked