Balta spinescens Che and Wang

Che, Yanli, Chen, Li & Wang, Zongqing, 2010, Six new species of the genus Balta Tepper (Blattaria, Pseudophyllodrominae) from China, Zootaxa 2609, pp. 55-67 : 57-60

Balta spinescens Che and Wang sp. nov.

Figures 13–23

Description. Pronotum length×width 2× 3 mm; tegmen 9 mm; overall length including tegmen 10.5 mm. Body pale brown. Vertex brown with dark brown band and spots ( Fig.13 ). Pronotum pale yellow with discoidal area brown ( Fig.14 ). Terga of venter brown and sterna pale yellow. Vertex with interocular space about the same as distance between antennal sockets, with one transverse band and three small spots between eyes ( Fig.13 ). Third and fifth maxillary palpomeres about same length, both distinctly shorter than the fourth. Tegmen with discoidal veins strongly oblique. Hind wing with costal veins strongly clubbed and thickened; medial vein nearly straight and without branches; cubital vein with 3 complete branches, triangular apical area reduced and small ( Fig. 15 ). Front femur Type C2 ( Fig.16 ), tarsal claws strongly asymmetrical and unspecialized ( Fig. 17 ). Male genitalia with supraanal plate in ventral view short and shallowly triangular, with mediodistal region rounded-convex, anterior margin transverse, hind margin curved ( Fig. 18 ); right and left paraprocts slightly asymmetrical, simple plates distorted and with apices tapering ( Fig. 18 ). Subgenital plate in dorsal view nearly rectangular, lateral margins nearly straight, hind margin shallowly and concavely excavated; styli small, bulbous, scattered with some fine spines on lateral lobes and directed caudally ( Fig.19 ). Left phallomere large, sclerotized, plates irregular ( Fig. 20 ). Median phallomere long and sticklike, expanded into triangular point near middle, with apex blunt and base brushlike ( Fig. 21 ); one associated median phallomere appendage present, arising next to and resembling median phallomere but short and slender, both apices brushlike ( Fig. 22 ). Hook-like phallomere slender, with V-shaped incision on right side, with sclerotized portion very small ( Fig. 23 ).

Material examined. Holotype m?, China, Longzhou, Nonggang, 19 May 1985, Li Weihua and Zhang Jinghong coll. Paratypes: 2 m?, same data as holotype.

Remarks. This species is similar to B. parvula (Bolívar, 1924) in appearance. However, it differs from the latter by: 1) subgenital plate with hind margin shallowly and concavely excavated, styli small and bulbous scattered with some fine spines whereas the B. parvula subgenital plate hind margin with narrow, U-shaped invagination medially, styli cylindrical and short; 2) hind wing with costal veins strongly clubbed and thickened; in B. parvula , costal veins not thickened; 3) vertex with one transverse band and three small spots between eyes; B. parvula vertex with 4 longitudinal brownish stripes and some large, dark, brownish areas on face and between antennal sockets.

Etymology. The scientific name is derived from the Latin word “ spinescens ,” which refers to the many scattered, minute spines on the styli.

Figures

FIGURES 13 – 23. Balta spinescens Che and Wang sp. nov. 13. Head. 14. Pronotum. 15. Hind wing. 16. Front femur. 17. Tarsal claws and arolium. 18. Supraanal plate and paraprocts, ventral view. 19. Subgenital plate, dorsal view. 20. Left phallomere. 21. Median phallomere. 22. Appendage of median phallomere. 23. Right phallomere.