BIOLOGY OF SUPELLA LONGIPALPA (FABRICIUS) (DICTYOPTERA: BLATELLIDAE) ON ARTIFICIAL DIET AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH MICROORGANISMS PATHOGENIC TO HUMANS

ABSTRACT The present study was aimed at assessing the biological parameters of Supella longipalpa (Fabricius), as well as its potential for being contaminated by fungi and bacteria. Collections were carried out in households located in three neighborhoods: Nossa Senhora das Graças, Betânia and Alvorada in the city of Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil. An average of 13.6 nymphs were obtained per ootheca with a retention period of 39.2 hours on the female’s body and a release interval from one ootheca to the other in 134.4 hours. Five nymph instars with 68.5% viability were obtained in the nymph stage. The sex ratio was 49.6 with a pre-reproductive period of 6 days and an average of 6.7 oothecae per female. The entire developing cycle lasted 218.56 days. In the nymph and adult stages (male and female), there was found a prevalence of association with fungi from the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus and gram-negative bacteria with Enterobacter and Klebsiella genera prevailing in the three neighborhoods.