Monastria sagittata Tarli, Grandcolas & Pellens, 2018

Tarli, Vitor Dias, Grandcolas, Philippe & Pellens, Roseli, 2018, Taxonomic revision of the genus Monastria Saussure, 1864 (Blattodea: Blaberidae Blaberinae) from the South American Atlantic forest, with the descriptions of five new species, Zootaxa 4524 (3), pp. 359-391 : 385-388

Monastria sagittata Tarli, Grandcolas & Pellens sp. n.

Figure 16.

Type material. Holotype ³: Brazil, Minas Gerais, Serra do Cipó. March 1967, coll. D. Vital ( MZUSP).

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by having pronotum with shallow, smooth and slightly striated dorsal surface; wide lateral margins with sharp angles. Tegmina anal field wide with the CuP vein perpendicular to the lateral. Subgenital plate asymmetrical with one small style. L1 sclerite with a distinct spear shaped apical region, hind margin with a large non-sclerotized projection, and fore region with a small projection directed upwards. Lateral branch small with strong teeth and spines. L2d sclerite, hook with subconical and narrow anterior region, very short and curved and internal ventral margin strongly convex.

Description. Male. Head subtriangular, with interocular space measuring approximately 1/3 of the distance between the antennal sockets. Ocelli developed and slightly deflected; frontal suture with a cuticular invagination (Fig. 16C). Pronotum broad, transverse and pentagonal; dorsal surface shallow, smooth and slightly striated; anterior margin rounded; lateral margins wider with sharp angles; hind margin nearly straight (Fig. 16B). Tegmina characterized by a wide anal field with the CuP vein perpendicular to the lateral (Fig. 16A). Legs short and robust. Fore-femora ventro-anterior margins with 21 or 20 spines of the same size; ventro-posterior margins with 4 spines. Middle-legs ventro-anterior margins with 5 or 4 large spines. Supra-anal plate quadrangular with setae on the surface, hind margin straight and slightly rounded laterally, bilobed with narrower lobes and strong invagination in the median portion. Subgenital plate asymmetrical with one small style. L1 sclerite with a roughly triangular spearshaped apical region, hind margin with a large non-sclerotized projection, fore region with a small lateral projection directed upwards, and lateral branch small with strong teeth and spines (Fig. 16G, H). L2d sclerite hook with subconical and narrow anterior region, very short, curved and internal ventral margin strongly convex (Fig. 16F, I). R2 sclerite cleft slightly curved inwards with the apex slightly sclerotized (Fig. 16D, E). The other sclerites were partially destroyed with an unhappy manipulation.

Female. Unknown

Measurements (mm). Holotype ³: Body length 51.28; pronotum length 11.94 × 21.54 maximum width; tegmen length 41.97 × 17.00 width; interocular width 1.8; interantennal width between sockets 5.4.

Coloration. Holotype ³: General coloration pale brown (Fig. 16A). Pronotum pale brown with a buff anterior margin; central disk brown ochre with scattered dark brown marks (Fig. 16B). Head with dark brown interocular space, orange frons and amber clypeus and labrum. Antennae with segments yellowish brown. Ocelli brown (Fig. 16C). Legs and spines yellowish brown; pulvilli yellow whitish, tarsal claws and arolia yellowish brown. Tegmina and abdomen following general coloration of body (Fig. 16A).

FIGURE 16. Monastria sagittata sp. n., Holotype ³: A) Habitus, dorsal view; B) Pronotum, dorsal view; C) Head, ventral view; D) Right phallomere, dorsal view; E) Right phallomere, ventral view; F) Left phallomere (L2d), ventral view; G) Median sclerite (L1), dorsal view; H) Median sclerite (L1), detail; I) Left phallomere (L2d), dorsal view (see Fig. 5 for abbreviations). Scales: Habitus= 1cm, Pronotum= 5mm, Head= 2 mm, all other figures= 1 mm.

FIGURE 17. Geographic location of sites where the different species of Monastria were collected. Monastria angulata is not included in the map for it is only known from a specimen from Bahia, without any mention of locality.

Etymology. The name “sagittata” derives from the Latin sagitta, meaning arrow, referring to arrow-shaped apex of the L1 sclerite. Distribution. Brazil (Minas Gerais). See Fig. 17 for details.

FIGURE 18. Hiereoblatta papillosa ( Thunberg, 1826) comb. n., female holotype. Scales: Habitus= 1cm.