A wild, forest-dwelling cockroach from the subfamily Ectobiidae (order Blattodea) in a nature reserve in Cavalcante, in the state of Goiás, Brazil, was found to be infected by a new, genetically distinct species in the Metarhizium flavoviride species complex that we describe here as Metarhizium blattodeae. The status of this fungus as a new species is supported by both multigenic sequence compa...

It has long been recognized that allergic inflammation is the fundamental pathological changes of allergy. Soluble aller-gens, specific IgE (sIgE), and mast cells or basophils are three key factors of allergy, representing causative factors, messenger , and primary effector cells, respectively. Eosinophils and neutrophils are known as secondary effector cells. In recent years, varieties of nove...

An allergen cloned from a Blattella germanica (German cockroach) cDNA library, encoded a 182-amino acid protein of 20,904 Da. This protein, designated B. germanica allergen 4 (Bla g 4), was expressed as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein in Escherichia coli and purified by affinity chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The prevalence of serum IgE antibody to recombi...

Globally the need to substitute fishmeal with other animal protein sources in fish diet has gained more attention; which is occasioned by increasing cost of fish. A 12-week trial was conducted ascertain growth indices and biochemical response hybrid catfish (Clarias gariepinus(♀) Heterobranchus bidorsalis (♂)) fed cockroach meal supplement. total 800 were randomly distributed into four dietary ...

Dinosaurs undoubtedly produced huge quantities of excrements. But who cleaned up after them? Dung beetles and flies with rapid development were rare during most of the Mesozoic. Candidates for these duties are extinct cockroaches (Blattulidae), whose temporal range is associated with herbivorous dinosaurs. An opportunity to test this hypothesis arises from coprolites to some extent extruded fro...

Little information is available on genetic variation within and between populations of pest cockroaches. In this study, intraspecific Hind III polymorphism was investigated in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (Linnaeus) (Dictyoptera, Blattaria: Blattellidae), using restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of the non-transcribed spacer (NTS) region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Indiv...

Condylactis toxin induces a prolonged falling phase in action potentials recorded from giant axons of the cockroach Periplaneta americana L. A distinct plateau potential can be recorded in the presence of Condylactis toxin at concentrations of 0.5 mg/ml and above. In cockroach axons, voltage-clamp experiments show that Condylactis toxin acts primarily by slowing the sodium current turn-off with...

background: although cockroaches are mechanical vector of many pathogens, still biological transmission of pathogens via these insects is controversial. more covenant immune defense in the hemolymph of cockroaches may take this ad­vantage to block any adaptation of pathogens regarding to biological transmission. lectin molecules in hemolymph of in­sects play as mediators of nonself recognition,...

In this dissertation, we model biological sensorimotor behaviors of two species, a cockroach following a wall and a human running on a split-belt treadmill, to elucidate the neural processing that underlie locomotor control in biological systems: (1) We model the horizontal musculoskeletal dynamics of antenna-based wall following for the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, as a dynamic p...