Symploce digitifera Rehn, 1922

Davranoglou, Leonidas-Romanos, 2015, A description of the previously unknown female of Symploce digitifera (Blattodea: Ectobiidae: Blatellinae), African Invertebrates 56 (3), pp. 555-555 : 555-556

Symploce digitifera Rehn, 1922

Diagnosis: Recognised among congenerics by the stout and robust body; micropterous wing form; distinctly bicolorous body ( Fig. 1 ) and trigonal supra-anal plate ( Figs 4, 5 ).

Female.

Description:

Measurements (ethanol-preserved specimens, in mm) (n=5): Total body length: 13.59; pronotum length×width: 2.32×4.35; mesonotum/metanotum length: 3.00; tegmen length: 2.14; fore femur length: 2.60; mid femur length: 2.68; hind femur length: 3.18; fore tibia length: 2.04; mid tibia length: 2.24; hind tibia length: 3.16; fore tarsus length: 1.38; mid tarsus length: 1.90; hind tarsus length: 2.32; greatest width of abdomen: 5.54; length of abdomen: 7.78.

Coloration: Distinctly bicolorous: pronotum dull orange, abdomen black ( Fig. 1 ); head dull orange, slightly darker than rest of body ( Figs 2 , 3 ); ocellar rudiments pale ( Fig. 3 ); terminal segments of maxillary and labial palps black ( Fig. 3 ); pronotum dull orange with or without 1+1 small, faint black bands on anterolateral portion ( Fig. 1 ); mesonotum, metanotum and vestigial tegmina dull orange ( Fig. 1 ); coxae basally black, gradually becoming yellowish brown distad ( Fig. 2 ); trochanters, femora and tibiae yellowish brown ( Fig. 2 ); dorsal aspect of abdomen black, often with dark orange suffusions proximally ( Fig. 1 ); sternites medially yellowish brown, black towards lateral margin ( Fig. 2 ); terminal sternites always black ( Fig. 2 ); cerci black, punctuate, with numerous white spots.

Structure: Micropterous female. Body robust, stout ( Figs 1, 2 ); eyes slightly smaller than male ( Figs 2 , 3 ); vertex with interocular width about as long as distance between antennal sockets ( Figs 2 , 3 ); ocelli reduced, present as pale patches on exoskeleton, closer to eyes than to each other ( Figs 2 , 3 ); scapus distally with an inconspicuous spine (sensory structure?) ( Fig. 3 ); legs short and stout ( Figs 1, 2 ); coxae and trochanters ( Fig. 2 ) covered with piliform spinules; fore femur with type A 3 armature (Roth 2003): proximal portion with long and stout spines, gradually decreasing in size distally, terminating in 3 very long spines ( Fig. 2 ); tibia strongly spinose, with piliform spinules intermixed with large spines; pulvilli on tarsomeres 1–4, tarsal claws symmetrical, unspecialised, arolium present, well developed; tegmina ( Fig. 1 ) reduced to small, almost nonarTicUlaTiNG sUbrEcTaNGUlar flaps, ExTENDiNG To basal porTioN of mETaNoTUm; HiND wiNGs absent; abdomen ( Fig. 1 ) wide and oval in dorsal aspect; cerci short and stout, with 10 segments; supra-anal plate trigonal, apical region rounded ( Figs 4, 5 ), surpassing hind margin of subgenital plate ( Fig. 1 ), the latter being visible only in ventral view ( Fig. 2 ). Ootheca.

Description:

Measurements (in mm) (N=13): Maximum length× height× width: 5.7× 3× 2.

Structure: Simple, slightly curved ventrally ( Fig. 6 ); keel inconspicuously serrate, with small teeth ( Fig. 7 ); distal margin smooth; proximal margin notched at site of vaginal imprint ( Fig. 6 ); usually with 18 eggs, arranged into two rows, embryonic heads facing dorsad.

MaTErial ExamiNED: ♀ aND ooTHEca: SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape: Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park (34°01'22"S 23°53'12"E), 06.ix.2003, collected from vegetation at night, coll. D.J. Mann.

Figures

Figs 1, 2. Micropterous female of Symploce digitifera: (1) dorsal and (2) ventral views.

Figs 3–7. Symploce digitifera micropterous female (3–5) and ootheca (6, 7): (3) dorsum of head; (4) supraanal plate and paraprocts, ventral view; (5) supra-anal plate, dorsal view; (6) ootheca, lateral view; (7) close-up of keel of ootheca, lateral view.