Blatta and parcoblatta

Stylopidae

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
3,203
Can anyone point out the differences between these two genera for me?

I have a colony of what I believe to be parcoblatta nymphs, but I have two that are darker than the rest but otherwise identical. Can someone tell me how to differentiate the two?
 

xelda

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
372
Blatta and Parcoblatta belong to different roach families. The names kind of run together because they sound really similar but it's a good idea to memorize them because it really helps to ID roaches (and other insects) when you think in terms of their phylogenies.

Blatta ---> Blattidae
Parcoblatta ---> Blattellidae

Probably the most familiar examples of blattellids are the German cockroach and Pseudomops. Loboptera decipiens is another one. Blattellid adults are usually smaller than Blatta and generally have the German cockroach body shape. I don't think you'd be able to differentiate the nymphs though. They all pretty much look the same as blattid nymphs.
 
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