Blattellidae, Karny, 1908

Mbia, Donald-L’or Nyame, Ngon, Eric Belmond Biram à, Legendre, Frédéric & Menbohan, Samuel Foto, 2024, Semi-aquatic Epilamprinae cockroaches (Blattodea: Blaberidae) in Cameroon: towards a revision of continental African species of Rhabdoblatta Kirby, 1903 and Africalolampra Roth, 1995, European Journal of Taxonomy 946 (1), pp. 1-57 : 47-49

Unidentified species of the family Blattellidae ( Fig. 31 )

Material examined

CAMEROON • 2 ♀♀; South Region , Mvilla watersheds, exact locality unknown; elev. 570–594 m; Dec. 2019 – Nov. 2020; MNHN, MNHN-EP7602 , MNHN-EP7603 .

Description

Female

HEAD. Triangular, longer than wide, mostly light brown, darker near vertex ( Fig. 31C ). Eyes black, ocellar spots indistinct. Labrum and clypeus light brown. Scape light brown, while other antennal segments darker. Distance between eyes smaller than distance between antennal sockets.

PRONOTUM. Light brown with darker spots, scattered with sparse setae near its lateral and anterior borders ( Fig. 31B ). Pronotum roughly trapezoidal but with middle of hind and anterior, although to a lesser extent, margins convex. Laterally deflexed.

TEGMINA AND WINGS. Fully developed, extending well beyond end of abdomen ( Fig. 31A, E ). Tegmina with rounded apex, light brown with veins darker. Sc thickened in ventral view. Hindwings light brown, darker anteriorly than posteriorly, with veins darker.

LEGS. Anteroventral margin of front femur of type A2, with 3–4 stronger spines proximally, distinctly serrated ( Fig. 31F ). Tibial spines well-developed. Metatarsus of hind leg longer than other segments combined ( Fig. 31D ), inner margin with two rows of small spines. Arolium and tarsal pulvilli well-developed, the latter bordered by “additional spines” sensu Anisyutkin (2016). Claws symmetrical and very finely crenulated (only visible at higher magnification).

ABDOMEN. Coloration of abdominal sternites variable, mostly light brown ( Fig. 31A, E ). Supra-anal plate sub-triangular, its caudal margin with long, fine setae. Subgenital plate light brown, mostly symmetrical, convex ( Fig. 31E ). Cerci long, multisegmented, pubescent ventrally, with a black tip ( Fig. 31E ).

Male

Although no male was either preserved or pictured, a few of them were observed by one of us (DLNM). Males have two styli and a tergal gland on the 1 st abdominal tergite with a truncated pyramidal shape on its upper part. In genitalia, the apical part of L2d is bifid.

Measurements of adults

Female (n = 2): pronotum length ×width: 2.7–2.9 ×3.6–3.8, tegmina length: 13.5–13.7, overall length ×width: 11.1–11.7× 3.9–4.3.

Habitat

In all the rivers investigated, adults and nymphs of this species were only found in Sounou and Lo’o rivers.

Remarks

This unidentified species was labeled as the morphotype MNCA in Nyame Mbia (2024).

Figures

Fig. 31. Unidentified female specimen (MNHN-EP7602). A. Habitus in dorsal and ventral views. B. Pronotum. C. Head. D. Hindleg with close-up on tarsi and serrated claws, ventral view. E. Subgenital plate and cerci. F. Front femur. Scale bars: A = 5 mm; B–F = 1 mm.