Bundoksia Lucañas, 2021

Lucañas, Cristian C., 2021, Bundoksia gen. nov. (Dictyoptera: Blattodea: Blattidae), a new sexually dimorphic cockroach from the Philippines, Journal of Natural History 55 (15 - 16), pp. 1009-1020 : 1012-1013

Genus Bundoksia Lucañas gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Sexual dimorphism distinct. Males: Vertex slightly exposed. Ocelli present. Pronotum trapezoidal, posterior margin rounded. Macropterous; tegmina extending beyond the abdomen; wings well developed. Fore femur type A (sparse stout proximal spines terminating in apical spines), but with few spine-like setae between proximal and apical spine. Fore tibia with dense setal brush. Mid and hind femur sparsely armed with dissimilar spines and setae. Tibia dorsoventrally flattened. Hind metatarsus distinctly longer than the succeeding tarsomeres combined. First and second tarsomeres armed with spines on the interior and exterior margin and beside the pulvilli; third and fourth tarsomeres armed only with spines beside the pulvilli. Pulvilli small and apical, present on four proximal tarsomeres. Arolium present. Tarsal claws simple symmetrical. First abdominal tergite specialised, with setose gland. Supra-anal plate symmetrical. Cerci pointed. Subgenital plate symmetrical. Style similarly sized. Male genitalia as follows: L3 sickle-like, with distinct sub-apical tooth near the notch; L2 armed with barb-like projections; R1H largely membranous except for inner lateral margin with tooth-like structure; R1G bifid or trifid; R2 complex with, with deep mesal invagination giving on impression of a division, anterior portion rounded; R3 anterior margin triangular, acute; L4G (ventral phallomere) reduced.

Female similar to males except for the following: Pronotum parabolic, posterior margin almost straight. Tegmina quadrate or triangular, reaching only up to the hind margin of metathorax or first abdominal tergite. Hindwing reduced, with little venation. Supra-anal plate acute, symmetrical. Subgenital plate valvular.

Bundoksia differs greatly from the other Archiblattinae in terms of its smooth pronotum and flattened tibiae. Based on Wang et al. (2016) ’s definition of the subfamily, such characters would place the genera under Blattinae . Among other Archiblattinae , the genus is possibly closely related to Protagonista Shelford from Mainland Asia, Sumatra and Borneo in terms of nearly similar and the brachyptery in females.

On the other hand, its distinct femoral armament (meso- and metafemur sparsely armed with dissimilarly sized spines) readily differentiate it among the other Blattinae (forefemur typically A 2; meso and metafemur armed with several similarly sized spines). Such characters may suggest that it belongs to the subfamily Archiblattinae .

The distinct sexual dimorphism (macropterous males and brachypterous females) in the genera easily distinguishes it from sexually monomorphic Blattinae such as the micropterous Afrostylopyga Anisyutkin , Apterisca Princis , Brinckella Princis , Celatoblatta Johns , Duchailluia Rehn, Distyloypga Beybienko , Henicotyle Rehn and Hebard , Macrostylopyga Anisyutkin, Anichkin & Nguyen , Maoriblatta Princis , Miostylopyga Princis and Neostylopyga Shelford ; brachypterous Dorylaea Stal , Pelmatosilpha Dohrn ; and macropterous genera, Eumethana Princis , some Hebardina Bey-Bienko , Homalosilpha Stal , Mimosilpha Bey-Bienko ; Periplaneta Burmeister , and Thyrsocera Burmeister.

Among sexually dimorphic genera, it closely resembles the dimorphic members of Periplaneta genus but differs in terms of the femoral armament. It differs from sexually dimorphic Hebardina by the quadrate or triangular tegmina of the females (apically rounded in Hebardina ). It differs from Cartoblatta Shelford , Shelfordella Adelung , and Deropeltis Burmeister by the presence of a glandular pit on the first abdominal tergite. It is distinguished from Blatta Linnaeus , Deropeltis and Pseudoderopeltis Krauss in terms of the quadrate or triangular tegmina reaching at least up to the hind margin of metathorax (squamiform in Blatta and Pseudoderopeltis ; and absent in Deropeltis ). The presence of hindwings in females further differentiates it from Blatta , Deropeltis , Pseudoderopeltis , and Shelfordella .

Etymology. From the Filipino word, ‘bundok’, which means mountains, referring to its montane habitat.

Known distribution. Philippines ( Figure 1 ).

Type species. Blatta rufocercata Shelford 1911 , by present designation.

Remarks. Although the validity of Archiblattinae is still debatable, the description of Bundoksia may further support the lumping of Archiblattinae with Blattinae as suggested by Shelford (1910), Hanitsch (1915), Bruinjing (1948), and Grandcolas (1996). If such would be the case, Archiblattinae could be treated as a tribe within Blattinae .

Liu et al. (2017) described Catara hainanica based on a single female nymph from Hainan Island, Southeastern China. Despite being placed in Catara , it clearly does not belong to this genus or any currently described. It is possible that C. hainanica belongs to Bundoksia or perhaps a closely related genus due to similarities in the femoral armature (Lu Qiu, pers. comm.). Further examination of C. hainanica , especially of the adult males, could confirm this hypothesis.

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution of Bundoksia gen. nov. in the Philippines.