Diploptera erythrocephala Princis, 1950

Li, Xinran & Wang, Zongqing, 2015, A taxonomic study of the beetle cockroaches (Diploptera Saussure) from China, with notes on the genus and species worldwide (Blattodea: Blaberidae: Diplopterinae), Zootaxa 4018 (1), pp. 35-56 : 52

Diploptera erythrocephala Princis, 1950

( Figs. 6 , 60–62 )

Diploptera erythrocephala Princis, 1950: 163 , locality Borneo.

Taxonomic notes. The proposition of D. erythrocephala was based merely on the difference from other species in coloration, which may be within intraspecific variation. Comparing the holotype of D. erythrocephala with specimens of D. minor , it is found that their morphology is almost the same aside from the degree of color darkness, i.e., D. erythrocephala is somewhat lighter than D. minor , so as to have a reddish brown head, to which the specific epithet refers. However, since color is relatively an unreliable diagnostic character and there is no other evidence to separate them as two independent species, the holotype of D. erythrocephala is likely to be an extremely light-colored D. minor .

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ( MZLU) fixed by monotypy, male, “O. Borneo, Kariorang , IV.1937, coll. Mrs. M.-E. Walsh ”.

Figures

FIGURES 2 – 16. Pronota of Diploptera spp. & subspp. presented in monochrome, i. e., white indicates unicolor or lighter coloration, whilst black is for darker portion. 2 – 3 D. punctata; 2 male; 3 female; 4 – 5 D. minor; 4 female; 5 male; 6 D. erythrocephala, male; 7 – 8 D. parva; 7 male; 8 female; 9 D. naevus sp. n., male; 10 D. nigrescens nigrescens, male; 11 – 12 D. nigrescens guani subsp. n.; 11 male; 12 female; 13 D. bicolor, male; 14 D. maculata, female; 15 – 16 D. elliptica sp. n.; 15 male; 16 female. (Dashed lines indicate depression. Scale bar = 2 mm)

FIGURES 57 – 65. Diploptera spp. distributed outside China, types and labels. Part 1 / 2: punctata - species-group except D. punctata. 57 – 59 D. minor (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865), male SYNTYPE (NHMW) from Philippines, photographed by Harald Bruckner, copyright © by Natural History Museum Vienna, NOaS Image Collection, published with permission; 60 – 62 D. erythrocephala Princis, 1950, male HOLOTYPE (MZLU) from Borneo, photographed by Ellen Sandström, photo courtesy of the Biological Museum, Lund University, Sweden; 63 – 65 D. parva Princis, 1953, male HOLOTYPE (NRM) from Java, photographed by Gunvi Lindberg, copyright Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm (NRM). (Scale bars = 5 mm.)