Misplaced Pages

Part of a series on
Wildlife of Sri Lanka
Protected areas Protected areas of Sri Lanka National parks Biosphere reserves Sanctuaries
Flora and faunaVertebrates Birds Endemics Mammals Endemics Amphibians Reptiles Freshwater fish Introduced fish Cartilage fish Commercial fish Invertebrates Butterflies Beetles Moths Dipterans Mosquitoes Hymenopterans Orthopterans Cockroaches Termites Earwigs Lacewings Phasmid Hemiptera Mantids Minor insects Bees Odonates Aphids Ants Freshwater crabs Non-marine molluscs Myriapods Spiders Tarantulas Scorpions Hard ticks Mites Isopods Pseudoscorpions Lesser arachnids Echinoderms Flora Trees Mangroves Pteridophytes
GardensZoological gardens Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage Dehiwala Zoo Pinnawala Open Zoo Ridiyagama Safari Park Botanical gardens Hakgala Henarathgoda Mirijjawila Peradeniya Seetawaka
OrganizationsAuthorities Department of Forest Conservation Department of Wildlife Conservation Civil societies Field Ornithology Group
Related topics Deforestation Ecoregions Tourism
v t e

Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. The invertebrate fauna is as large as it is common to other regions of the world. There are about 2 million species of arthropods found in the world, and counting.

The following list is about Cockroaches recorded in Sri Lanka.

Cockroach

Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, which also includes termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. About four species are well known as pests. Cockroaches are somewhat generalized insects without special adaptations like the sucking mouthparts of Hemiptera; they have chewing mouthparts and are likely among the most primitive of living neopteran insects. They are common and hardy insects, and can tolerate a wide range of environments from Arctic cold to tropical heat. Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger than temperate species, and, contrary to popular opinion, extinct cockroach relatives and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were not as large as the biggest modern species.

Cockroaches are members of the order Blattodea, which includes the termites, a group of insects once thought to be separate from cockroaches. Currently, there are 4,600 species described and over 460 genera worldwide.

The following list provide the cockroaches currently identified in Sri Lanka. An exclusive update and taxonomic research on cockroaches in Sri Lanka has been not under taken so far by the scientific community. With records and few earlier studies, they have found that 66 species of cockroaches can be found from Sri Lanka, belongs to 6 families and 31 genera.

Endemic species are denoted as E.

Family: Blaberidae - Giant cockroaches

• Ancaudellia lobipennis
• Corydidarum humbertiana
• Diploptera punctata
• Indoapterolampra rugosiuscula
• Morphna lucida
• Morphna plana
• Panesthia plagiata
• Phlebonotus pallens
• Pseudoglomeris glomeris
• Pycnoscelus indicus
• Pycnoscelus nigra
• Pycnoscelus surinamensis
• Rhabdoblatta subsparsa
• Rhabdoblatta terranea
• Salganea passaloides
• Salganea passaloides passaloides
• Stictolampra punctata
• Stilpnoblatta opaca
• Thorax porcellana

Family: Blattidae - Household cockroaches

• Dorylaea archershee
• Dorylaea zeylanica
• Neostylopyga parallela
• Neostylopyga rhombifolia
• Periplaneta americana
• Periplaneta australasiae
• Periplaneta ceylonica
• Pelmatosilpha princisi
• Pelmatosilpha sinhalensis
• Thyrsocera spectabilis

Family: Corydiidae - Sand cockroaches

• Euthyrrhapha pacifica
• Holocompsa debilis
• Therea petiveriana

Family: Ectobiidae - Wood cockroaches

• Allacta diluta
• Allacta figurata
• Anaplecta avicharapura
• Anaplecta erythronota
• Anaplecta galathea
• Anaplecta gyrinoides
• Anaplecta karakoush
• Anaplecta kekilla
• Anaplecta marshallae
• Anaplecta ratnadvipa
• Anaplecta srilanka
• Anaplecta thwaitesi
• Anaplecta zeylanica
• Anaplectella maculata
• Anaplectella pilatus
• Anaplectella thwaitesi
• Anaplectella warreni
• Anaplectoidea modesta
• Balta notulata
• Balta reticulata
• Blattella asahinai
• Blattella biligata
• Blattella bisignata
• Blattella germanica
• Blattella humbertiana
• Blattella lituricollis
• Blattella parvula
• Blattella vaga
• Delosia ornata
• Delosia sabaragamua
• Liosilpha pumicata
• Margattea ceylanica
• Supella longipalpa

Family: Nocticolidae

• Cardacus willeyi
• Nocticola rohini

References

1. Beccaloni, G. W. (2014). "Cockroach Species File Online. Version 5.0".
2. "Blattodea (Cockroaches & Termites)". CSIRO Entomology. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
3. Roth, Louis M. (1996). "The cockroach genera Anaplecta, Anaplectella, Anaplectoidea, and Malaccina Blattaria, Blattellidae: Anaplectinae and Blattellinae)". Oriental Insects. 30: 301–372. doi:10.1080/00305316.1996.10434105.
4. Bambaradeniya, Channa N. B. (2006). The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation. ISBN 9789558177518. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
5. "Cockroach diversity in Sri Lanka". insectoid.info. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
6. Anisyutkin, Leonid N. "On cockroaches of the subfamily Epilamprinae (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae) from South India and Sri Lanka, with descriptions of new taxa" (PDF). Zootaxa. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
7. "species Indoapterolampra rugosiuscula Anisyutkin, 2014". Cockroach Species File (Version 5.0/5.0). Retrieved 7 June 2016.
8. "species Morphna lucida Anisyutkin, 2014". Cockroach Species File (Version 5.0/5.0). Retrieved 7 June 2016.
9. "species Anaplecta srilanka Fernando, 1957". Cockroach Species File (Version 5.0/5.0). Retrieved 7 June 2016.
10. "species Blattella humbertiana (Saussure, 1863)". Cockroach Species File (Version 5.0/5.0). Retrieved 7 June 2016.

• Cockroaches
• Insects of Sri Lanka
• Lists of biota of Sri Lanka
• Lists of insects by location