Dasyblatta warei, Mendoza & Evangelista, 2016

Evangelista, Dominic A., Sylvain, Erdine, Mendoza, Ciara Mae & Guzman, Kimberly, 2016, New and enigmatic cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattodea) of Guyana, Journal of Natural History 50, pp. 2249-2276 : 2257-2262

Dasyblatta warei sp. nov. Mendoza & Evangelista

( Figures 6 , 7 ; Table 2)

Holotype information

Adult male. Voucher number: DECBA0907 . GenBank Accession number: KF155073. Locality : CEIBA Biological Station, Madewini, Guyana. GPS: 6°29 ʹ N, 58°13 ʹ W. Collection date: 11 August 2011. Collectors: I. Biazzo, D. Evangelista, M. Kohli, M. Sanchez, N. Sroczinski and J. L. Ware.

Deposition

The holotype is stored in 70% ethanol and will be deposited in the Center for Biodiversity at the University of Guyana .

Collection/ecological information

This individual was collected within a bromeliad at the crown of a tree (22 m above ground).

Morphological identification

Assigning this species to a genus was very difficult given its derived form. We placed this species in the Blattellinae based on the location of the hooked phallomere (left). The shape of the right genital phallomere suggests a greater similarity to Xestoblatta Hebard 1916 , or Ischnoptera Burmeister, 1838 . However, our specimens were lacking the dorsal tergal gland common in both groups. Given the overall hairy nature, lack of tergal gland, fore leg spination, and slight curling of male hind wings at rest we have placed this species in Dasyblatta Hebard 1921 .

Description of holotype

Male. Head pale, chestnut brown; covered in medium-sized hairs, almost uniformly. Interocular space approximately equal to interantennal space. Ocelli absent. Antennae same colour as head, becoming increasingly light distally.

millimetres. The abdomen of the male specimen is not connected to its body

so total body length was estimated (est.) based on the two parts.

Anteroventral margin of the fore legs armed with one large basal spine followed by a row of small spines (14-left and 9-right), one large preapical spine, and one large apical spine. Pulvilli present on all tarsal segments. Arolia present; medium to large size (not quite meeting tip of the tarsal claws). The anteroventral margin of the middle leg with two large spines and one slightly smaller spine just before large apical spine. Genicular spine present. Leg coloration: fore leg coxa is almost entirely brown and lightening to buffy apical section; femur, tibia, and tarsus are a light reddish amber. The middle leg same as fore leg, except buffy region on coxa is more prominent and femur buffy as well.

Pronotum does not entirely cover head; uniformly dark, chestnut-brown; large hairs covering anterior and lateral sides of pronotum, most prominently; lateral margin slightly less chitinized and more translucent.

Tegmina long and thin, covered in long hairs uniformly; translucent, brown amber.

Abdomen dorsally covered in large hairs, most dense laterally. Dorsal abdominal gland absent. Supra-anal plate trapezoidal and truncated. Abdominal tergum anterior to supra-anal plate only subtly, if at all, asymmetrical. Coloration as rest of body. Tergites slightly lighter laterally. Abdomen ventrally covered in medium-sized hairs throughout, and most obvious on posterior margins of the segments. Supra-anal plate rounded and curved modestly dorsally at the lateral sides. Coloration is deep, chestnut-brown overall.

Right stylus of subgenital plate curved medially, terminating in a crown of spines. Left stylus projecting posteriorly; shorter than right stylus, and similarly crowned. Medial phallomere stout, branched into three prongs. Right phallomere with a membrane of stout hairs or spines proximal to it. Paraprocts slightly asymmetrical, but not highly specialized.

Measurements can be found in Table 2.

Allotype

Voucher number: DECBA1803 . Locality : CEIBA Biological Station, Madewini, Guyana. GPS: 6°29 ʹ N, 58°13 ʹ W. Collection date: 21 August 2012. Collectors: D. Evangelista, W. Kuhn.

Deposition

The allotype is stored in 70% ethanol and will be deposited in the Center for Biodiversity at the University of Guyana .

Collection/ecological information

This individual was collected on the trunk of a tree while it was ovipositing.

Morphological description of allotype

Female. Head is the same as described in male, except: interocular space is just slightly narrower than the inter-antennal space; antenna same colour as head, but light amber both distally and basally.

Anteroventral margin of fore leg lacking large basal spine (14 small spines present on both forelimb femurs). Middle leg anteroventral margin of femur same as male, except that small spine is much more minute. Hind leg anteroventral margin is same as middle leg. Legs coloration same as in male. Hind leg femur and tibia are orange amber colour, similar to that of fore legs.

Pronotum is equally or more hairy than male; small central region lacking large hairs. Tegmina and wings shortened, almost reaching first segment of abdomen (brachyptery). Tegmina covered in large hairs throughout; orange-amber coloration, darker at base of subcostal vein. Light colour of the lateral margins of terga is more pronounced in female than in male.

Abdomen dorsally same as male except first two segments are lacking brown coloration. Ventral abdomen same as male except that subgenital plate is simple, rounded, and hairier than remainder of abdomen. Ootheca as in Figure 7 (i, j), 4.2 mm long.

Measurements can be found in Table 1.

Juvenile paratypes

Voucher numbers: DECBA0911 , DECBA0906 . (All collection information same as the holotype).

Description of juvenile paratypes

Ventral morphology same as adults but may have a duller pale brown coloration. When present, styles are finger-like, simple, and symmetrical. Pronotum is same amber colour as female thorax. Light amber colour extends posteriorly to first abdominal segment. Pronotum is dusky brown posteriorly.

Measurements for the juvenile paratypes can be found in Table 2.

Molecular data and evolutionary placement of D. warei sp. nov.

The tree of Evangelista et al. (2014) fails to associate the two individual sequences (DECBA0907 – KF155073, DECBA0906 – KF155072) with the sequence for Dasyblatta thaumasia Hebard, 1921 (DECBA1777 – KF155133 ).

Differential diagnosis and diagnostic features

The major features in which our species differ from the known Dasyblatta ( D. charpentierae Bonfils, 1975 ; D. stylata, Bonfils, 1975 ; D. chopardi Hebard, 1921 ; D. thaumasia, Hebard, 1921 ; D. maldonadoi Rocha E Silva Albuquerque, 1964 ; D. vogli Princis, 1955 ; D. melanocephala, Princis, 1955 ) are: immaculate pronotum, styles only slightly curved, ocelli absent, subgenital plate not strongly asymmetrical, tergite anterior to supra-anal plate symmetrical, supra-anal plate trapezoidal. We suspect this species is not closely related to any of the known Dasyblatta .

Etymology

We name this species after Dr Jessica Lee Ware. She has contributed significantly to knowledge of Blattodea , Odonata and other insects. Not only this, but we find that this Dasyblatta (particularly the female) fits her exceptional and admirable character. The etymology of the generic name (dasy = hairy) is unrelated.

Known geographic distribution

Guyana (Madewini).

Figures

Figure 6. Dasyblatta warei sp. nov. (a–c) Adult male holotype. Voucher number: DECBA0907. (a) Dorsal body; (b) dorsal abdomen; (c). ventral abdomen. (d, e) Adult female allotype. Voucher number: DECBA1803. (d) Dorsal body; (e) ventral body.

Figure 7. Dasyblatta warei sp. nov. (a–f) Adult male holotype. Voucher number: DECBA0907. (a) Right phallomere (R2); (b) medial phallomere (Lvm); (c) left phallomere (L3); (d) ventral subgenital plate; (e) ventral supra-anal plate; (f) Dorsal subgenital plate. (g, h) Female allotype. Voucher number: DECBA1803. (g) Head, ventral; (h) ventral subgenital plate. (i, j) Ootheca taken from allotype during live collection.