In the laboratory the following oviparous cockroaches from Honduras (Latiblattella angzustifrons, L. azteca, and L. vitrea) produced their first obthecae an average of 33, 24, and 58 days after becoming adult (all data are listed by species in alphabetical order). Mated females produced successive oothecae at average intervals of 6, 4, and 9 days thereafter, depositing an average of 2, 5, and 3 o6thecae during their lives. The number of eggs per o6theca averaged 26, 26, and 28. None of the eggs in oothecae produced by virgin females hatched. Embryogenesis lasted on the average 55, 55, and 41 days. Males completed nymphal development in averages of 106, 118, and 110 days, respectively. Females completed development in averages of 112, 123, and 121 days. The sexual difference in developmental time is significant only in L. angustifrons. Mortality during development averaged 31, 47, and 40 per cent. Mated females lived on the average 100, 86, and 113 days. Mated males lived 84, 88, and 36 days. Mated females of both L. angustifrons and L. vitrea lived significantly longer than their mates. Data from a few unmated individuals show simliar trends. Normal and abnormal oothecae and oothecal structural details are illustrated. COCKROACHES IN THE genus Latiblattella Hebard (Blattaria: Blattellidae) occur mostly in tropical America, extending northward to the southern borders of the United States (Hebard 1917). Only a very few biological observations have been published ancillary to the alpha taxonomy of the group, "ta difficult Tropical North American genus" (Hebard 1933). Nothing is known about the bionomics of these insects in nature, which places a premium on laboratory observations and may stimulate further research into their biology. So far as I can determine, species of Latiblattella are nondomiciliary cockroaches which, with few exceptions, have been found primarily associated with plants or plant products. L. inornatua Hebard was taken from decaying leaf mould and litter under palms at France Field, Panama Canal Zone (Hebard 1933). Latiblattella spp. have been reported twice from man-made structures, but unquestionably they were brought in by man. Hebard (1917) found a female (species not specified) in the hold of the banana boat S.S. Tenadores, and Frey (1948) reported Latiblattella sp. adventive on bananas in Finland. Species of Latiblattella are undoubtedly associated with banana plants in the field, but I have no such reports at hand. In Costa Rica, Picado ( 1913 ) found L. chichimeca (Saussure & Zehntner) very commonly in bromeliads, which plants shelter cockroaches of many other genera as well (Roth and Willis 1960). Rehn (1906) found L. zapoteca (Saussure) under stones on the borders of the Surubres River, Costa Rica; this is the only record I have in which the insect was not associated with plants. In Florida, Blatchley (1920) collected L. rehni Hebard from Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides L.). He also found this species under bark of dead pines; he noted that the insects seldom attempted flight when disturbed but hid in crevices or dropped to the ground (see also below). Hebard (1917) found L. rehni widely distributed throughout pint woods in Florida. He collected this species undet signs nailed to the trunks of Pinus caribaea Mor. (now referrcd to P. elliottii Engelm. in Florida) and P. clausa (Chapm.) Vasey. In Arizona (Santa Rita Mountains) Ball, et al. (1942) reported that L. lucifrons Hebard was most commonly seen feeding on pollen and dead insects on the flower stalks of Yucca elata Engelm. Although species of Latiblattella usually have been found associated with plants, there are no reports that these insects damage plants as do a number of other species of cockroaches (Roth and Willis 1960). The three species of Latiblattella on which I report herein were also collected from plants; there was no evidence that they were attacking living plant tissue. In 1962 I collected a few individuals of three species of Latiblattella in La Lima, Cortes, Honduras. I found L. angustifrons Hebard together with the cockroach Cahita nahua (Saussure) in a deep, bowlshaped crotch of a guava tree (Inga sp.) Young and adults of both species occurred in a mass of dry leaves above a narrow rot hole that ran from BIOTROPICA 1(2): 41-46. 1969 41 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.17 on Wed, 31 Aug 2016 04:14:36 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms the crotch to the base of the tree. A small colony of the Australian cockroach, Periplaneta australasiace (F.), occupied the lower part of the rot hole which also opened at ground level. As I collected the insects, nymphs of L. angustifrons and C. nahua dispersed rapidly over the tree trunk hiding under loose bark. When further disturbed by my collecting, these nymphs ran rapidly up or down the trunk into other crevices or dropped to the ground. Hebard (1917) noted similar behavior by L. rehni on the trunks of pines in Florida. He also noted that L. rehni frequently occurred with the cockroach Eurycotis floridanac (Walker) and, more rarely, with Periplcanetc australcasiae. Hebard (1933) also found a male of L. czgustifrons in the hollow stem of Triplaris cumingianca Fischer & Meyer at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone. I obtained Latiblattellca aztecca (Saussure & Zehntner) from a grapefruit tree. The capture included one female carrying an o6theca and 10 additional oothecae that had been deposited between a mature fruit and an encircling leaf. I collected one female of L. vitrea (Brunner v. Wattenwyl) in dry curled leaves of standing corn (Zeca mays L.). Knab collected a female of L. vitreca in a spathe of Arum sp. at Cordoba, Vera Cruz, Mexico (Hebard 1921). Glass jars lightly greased inside and baited with honey-soaked bread (in which I had trapped numerous less arboreal cockroaches) did not attract species of Latiblattella. I placed one trap overnight in the crotch of the guava tree among the dry leaves inhabited by L. angustifrons and Cahitca nahua. Although both species can climb glass, none entered the jar. Similar traps placed in the cornfield where I had collected L. vitreca did not trap other specimens of this species.