Periplaneta arabica (Bey-Bienko, 1938)

Luo, Xin-Xing, Li, Qian-Qian, Zamani, Alireza, Che, Yan-Li & Wang, Zong-Qing, 2023, Redescription of Periplaneta arabica (Bey-Bienko, 1938) (Blattodea, Blattidae), with a comparative analysis of three species of Periplaneta Burmeister, 1838 (sensu stricto), ZooKeys 1146, pp. 165-183 : 165

Periplaneta arabica (Bey-Bienko, 1938)

Figs 2 , 3 , 4 (in part), 5 (in part), 6

Shelfordella arabica Bey-Bienko, 1938: 235 (Type locality: Mecca, Saudi Arabia); Bohn 2007: 87.

Blatta (Shelfordella) arabica : Princis 1966: 509.

Material examined

(all deposited in SWU). 6 males, 2 females and 7 nymphs; IRAN; Ilam Province: Dehloran county, near the border with Iraq, surroundings of Changuleh [33°0'49.37"N, 46°36'38.63"E, approximate coordinates], unnamed cave, II. 2020, A.H. Aghaei leg.

Diagnosis.

Combining the following characteristics, this species is easily distinguished from its congeners: 1) interocular space slightly wider than the interocellar space and less than interantennal space in male, interocular space wider than interantennal space in female; 2) tegmina of female reduced and nearly square; 3) legs slender, pulvilli and arolia absent; 4) hind margin not extending outward and slightly concave in the middle, forming an obtuse angle in supra-anal plate of male; 5) caudal part of L2 with a well sclerotized spine; 6) hlap weakly developed, but larger than that of the other two species; 7) distal part of R1H with two long spines and no serration.

Redescription.

Measurements (mm). Male. Body length including tegmen: 30.6-36.4; body length: 24.2-27.3; pronotum length × width: 6.7-7.7 × 7.2-7.7; tegmen length × width: 24.9-29.2 × 4.6-5.4. Female. Body length: 23.5-25.5; pronotum length × width: 6.4-6.8 × 6.6-7.2; tegmen length × width: 4.4-6.4 × 6.6-7.3.

Coloration. Body brown or reddish brown, eyes black, ocelli white; tegmina and wings yellowish brown.

Male (Fig. 2 ). Head and thorax. Vertex exposed. Interocular space slightly wider than the interocellar space, less than interantennal space. Antenna longer than the body (Fig. 2C ). Pronotum subelliptical, with surface sparsely pubescent, the central part of anterior margin depressed, and hind margin slightly convex, the widest point approximately in the middle (Fig. 2D ). Tegmina and wings well developed, exceeding the end of abdomen by about 5.3-7.7 mm. Tegmina with ScP strong, the distal part fusing with anterior branches of R; anterior branches of R with 2-4 bifurcations, posterior branches reaching the outer margin; the base of M distinct with 2-4 bifurcations; CuA slender with a few branches; V indistinct (Fig. 2J ). Wings with ScP slender, the distal part of RA indistinct, RP slightly strong and distinct; M with 2-3 bifurcations at the end; CuA strong; V distinct (Fig. 2K ). Legs (Fig. 2E-I ) slender. Front femur type A2 (Fig. 2E ). Hind metatarsus longer than the remaining segments combined (Fig. 2H ). Pulvilli and arolia reduced; claws symmetrical (Fig. 2I ). Abdomen. First tergite unspecialized. Supra-anal plate transversely broad, the lateral margins curved, and the hind margin slightly concave in the middle; the distal part less sclerotized and hyaline (Fig. 2L ). Paraprocts (pp.) long strip-shaped and symmetrical. Cerci long, apically tapering. Subgenital plate nearly square, the hind margin slightly convex (Fig. 2M ). Styli long, slender. Genitalia (Fig. 2N, O ). L1 weakly sclerotized with pubescence. L4C with microspines on the lateral margin; the distal part expanded, hind margin nearly truncated. L2 curved and extended to left, the caudal part with a long spine toward right. L4D small (Fig. 2O ). L4E flat. L3 unciform and well sclerotized; the base wide, downwardly tapering; the distal part bifurcated, hlap weakly developed. L4G elliptic with the basal part constricted. R1H flaky, with two long spines at the apex. The basal part of R1G broad, the distal with a long and curved narrow process toward right. R1F irregular and its outer margin thickened. R2 with a ridge-like projection in dorsal view. R3 located at the upper right, triangular and weakly sclerotized.

Female (Fig. 3 ). Head and thorax. Interocular space wider than interantennal space(Fig. 3B ). Pronotum campaniform; anterior margin straight and hind margin convex, the widest point after the middle (Fig. 3A ). Tegmina square, reduced and not reaching the first tergite of abdomen; lateral margins of tegmina truncated, forming nearly right angle with the anterior margin; R parallel to the anterior margin (Fig. 3I ). Hind wings small lobe-like (Fig. 3J ). Abdomen (Fig. 3K, L ). Hind margin of tergum X (TX) with median invagination, and with a membranous line inside. Paraprocts (pp.) wide, nearly triangular. Subgenital plate divided; median with intersternal fold (inst.f.). Genitalia (Fig. 3K, L ). First valve (v.I) sclerotized with dense punctures; the distal part hyaline, and the base fused with first valvifer (vlf.I). First valvifer short, parallel to paratergites (pt.) and laterosternite IX (ltst.IX). Paratergites slender and laterosternite IX irregular. Valvifer II (p.l.) annular. Second valve (v.II) small and flaky, the base fused, connecting with third valve (v.III) by membrane. Third valve (v.III) large and less sclerotized. Anterior arch (a.a.) wide and its central part with two symmetrical foot-shaped projections, surface with microtrichia. Spermathecal plate (sp.pl) well sclerotized and nearly crescent-shaped. Spermathecal opening (sp.o.) located at anterior margin of spermathecal plate. Spermatheca (sp.) divided into two branches, one branch with the distal part enlarged. Basivalvulae (bsv.) subelliptical with punctures. Postero-lateral angle of laterosternal shelf (ltst.sh.) extended towards outer margin. Vestibular sclerite (vst.s.) strip-shaped.

Nymph. Early instars are yellowish brown with ocelli and eyes small; in older nymphs, the body turns brown or reddish brown (Fig. 3E-H ).

Distribution.

Saudi Arabia (Mecca); Yemen; United Arab Emirates; Oman; Iran (Ilam Province; new country record).

Remarks.

Bey-Bienko (1938) first documented and described this species based on a female specimen from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Bohn (2007) provided some morphological characteristics of the male in the key to genera and species occurring in the United Arab Emirates. After checking the original description by Bey-Bienko (1938) and Bohn (2007) and the images of the type specimens, we consider P. arabica to be characterized by: 1) interocular space slightly wider than the interocellar space in female; 2) pronotum anterior margin straight and hind margin convex in female; 3) tegmina nearly square in female; 4) hind margin slightly concave in the middle to form an obtuse angle in supra-anal plate of male; these characteristics are present in our specimens as well. Therefore, we concluded that our material collected from western Iran should belong to P. arabica . Matching of individuals of different sexes and life stages was possible with DNA barcoding.

Figures

Figure 2. Male of Periplaneta arabica (Bey-Bienko, 1938) A habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C head D pronotum E front femur F-H tarsi (front, middle, hind) I arolium of hind leg J tegmen K hind wing L supra-anal plate M subgenital plate N phallomere, dorsal view O phallomere, ventral view. Scale bars: 10.0 mm (A, B, J, K); 2.0 mm (C, D, E, F, G, H, L, M, N, O); 0.5 mm (I).

Figure 3. Female and nymph of Periplaneta arabica (Bey-Bienko, 1938) A-D, I-L female A pronotum B head C habitus, dorsal view D habitus, ventral view I tegmen J hind wing K genitalia, dorsal view L genitalia, ventral view E-H habitus of nymph, dorsal and ventral views. Scale bars: 10.0 mm (C, D, G, H); 2.0 mm (A, B, E, F, I, K, L); 1 mm (J).

Figure 4. A-F In order from left to right, male of P. americana, female of P. americana, male of P. arabica, female of P. arabica, male of P. lateralis, female of P. lateralis A heads B pronota C tegmina D hind wings E supra-anal plates F subgenital plates G hind tarsi (in order from top to bottom: P. americana, P. arabica, P. lateralis) H-J arolia of hind legs (in order: P. americana, P. arabica, P. lateralis). Scale bars: 10.0 mm (C, D P. americana, males of P. arabica and P. lateralis); 2.0 mm (A, B, E-G, and females of P. arabica and P. lateralis in C); 1.0 mm (D females of P. arabica and P. lateralis); 0.5 mm (H-J).