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Melanozosteria nitida

U‘eu‘e (MG)

Black Wingless Cockroach

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Black Wingless Cockroach

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Ue‘ue (MG), Kararū (MK), Potipoti (MT TS TW); COMMENT: Mauke - Kararu is the black outdoor cockroach.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE not recorded; EXOTIC EXOTIC incl. Fiji - Cooks - Tuamotu

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land; under ground litter

KEY FEATURES: Uniformly glossy black, wingless cockroach, to 25x15mm(LxW). Adult 2nd segment has vestigial wingcovers on outer section.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Cream-margin Cockroach (Melanozsteria soror) always has a cream margin on thorax (vs. uniform black).

Enlarged Image of 'Melanozosteria nitida'

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++	P		++

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Melanozosteria nitida (Brunner von Wattenwyl 1865)
SYNONYMS: Cutilia nitida; Platyzosteria nitida; Platyzosteria (Melanozosteria) nitida

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Blattodea; BLATTIDAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Glossy black cockroach, without wings, to 25x15mm. BODY wide-oval and flattened, uniformly glossy black, all segments visible. THORAX 3 segments; adult 2nd segment with vestigial wing-covers on outer section, to 3mm wide. LEGS black, spiny.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mauke: 3 specimens, 11/1984, G.Paulay, in BPBM wo ID, ID G.McCormack 5/2004 as Melanozosteria nitida.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02, zupD04a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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