Embia tartara Saussure, 1896

Hollier, John, 2013, The Embioptera (Insecta) described by Henri de Saussure, Revue suisse de Zoologie 120 (2), pp. 221-227 : 224

tartara Saussure, 1896b: 352 [Embia].

Turkestania (Mus. Genavense). Unspecified number of ♂.

One slide-mounted ♂ syntype with labels: “600 81 Turkestan, Asie, Anc. coll.” [handwritten on ruled white card]; “TURKESTAN, PORTSCHINS” [printed on white card]; “ Embia tartara Sss. ” [handwritten on yellow paper]; “ EMBIA TARTARA SAUSS : TYPE” [handwritten on red card]. The first three labels have holes indicating that they were originally placed on an insect pin. The slide has two cover slips: the first covers the left fore and hind wings; the second covers the cleared but intact body of the specimen. The right fore wing and right middle leg are missing, as is part of the right antenna. The left hind leg is under the second coverslip but detached from the thorax.

Davis (1939c: 480) considered that the left cercus was broken rather than one segmented as Saussure had said, and thought that this species was a junior synonym of Parembia persica (McLachlan, 1877) . In a letter to Carl in 1939 Davis stated that he could not locate the three syntypes of P. persica despite having visited the Natural History Museum in London, but the Museum’s online database lists slide-mounted type material. Ross (2009) listed this species under Embia with a symbol to indicate that the generic combination will be changed.

Embiidae :

Embia tartara Saussure, 1896 .