Evania Appendigaster (L .), A Cockroach Egg Parasitoid

Household cockroaches (Blatta orientalis L.; Periplaneta americana (L.); Periplaneta australasiae (F.) are parasitized by an imported ensign wasp, Evania appendigaster (L.). Adult wasps are occasionally seen in city buildings and homes. The earliest U.S. record of this probably Oriental species is a specimen captured in Washington, D.C. June 5, 1879. The general body shape (fig. 1) provides an easy recognition feature of this family since no other Hymenoptera have the abdominal petiole attached near the top of the propodeum, with the rest of the abdomen (gaster) small, laterally compressed, oval (male) to subtriangular (female) giving the appearance of a small hand flag, hence the common name of the family “Ensign Wasps”. A systematic account is given by Townes (1949) and biological considerations by Cameron (1957).