HABITAT USE AND POPULATION-STRUCTURE OF A POLYPHAGINE COCKROACH, ERGAULA-CAPENSIS (SAUSSURE 1893) (BLATTARIA-POLYPHAGINAE) IN GABONESE RAIN-FOREST

The life habits of Ergaula capensis (Saussure 1893) were studied in th e Gabonese rainforest. This species inhabited treeholes or holes in te rmite nests at the bases of trees. Populations are scattered in less t han 16% of available treeholes and not very permanent over several yea rs. As a mean, 8.8 nymphs and sometimes one adult female were aggregat ed and burrowed in the dry dust at the bottom of a cavity. The ootheca e were deposited at the same place. Both the density of this species a nd the nymphal survival were very low. Males seem less sedentary than females and one observation suggests that couples stay together before females found colonies in cavities.