Hormetica strumosa Saussure & Zehntner, 1895

Vidlička, Ľubomír, 2019, New genus and species of cockroaches from the tribe Brachycolini (Blattaria Blaberidae: Blaberinae) and redescription of the Hormetica strumosa, Zootaxa 4651 (1), pp. 155-172 : 166-171

Hormetica strumosa Saussure & Zehntner, 1895 —redescription

Figs. 9 A–E, 10 A–G, 11 A–H

Material examined: 9 A: ♂, Ecuador , Avila Viejo , Orellana (before 1998 Napo) Province, 16.IX. 1998, 750 m, leg. E. Kohn (deposited in PUCE, Quito, Ecuador) .

9 B: ♂, Ecuador , Cuyabeno , Sucumbios (before 1998 Napo) Province, 18.X. 1985, 230 m, leg. E. Corrillo (?) (deposited in IZ SAS, Bratislava, Slovakia) .

9 C: ♂, Ecuador , Misahuallí, Napo (remaining part after allocation in 1998) Province, VII.1984, leg. C. Borja (deposited in PUCE, Quito, Ecuador) .

9 D: ♂, Ecuador , Archidona—Santo Domingo, Napo (remaining part after allocation in 1998), VIII.1985, leg. C. Rosero (deposited in PUCE, Quito, Ecuador) .

9 E: ♀, Ecuador , Rio Holcin , Napo (remaining part after allocation in 1998) Province, 6.XII.1991, 1200 m, leg. Paola Ramón (deposited in PUCE, Quito, Ecuador) .

Additional material: Syntype, ♂, Ecuador, Hormetica strumosa S. & Z .

Specimen is deposited in Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de la Ville de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland. Available photos were from dorsal and ventral sides.

Photographers: John Hollier & Peter Schwendinger, MHN, Geneva

Description. Measurement [mm] as in Table 3 .

Male: Figs. 9 A–D, 10 A–G, 11 A–H. Head very broad, dark brown to black, vertex with yellow spots or incom- plete transversal band (specimen 9B without yellow parts in vertex), anteclypeus pale brown, antennal socket and area between eyes and antennal socket always yellow ( Figs. 9 A’, B’, D’). Ocelli are not visible, interocular space very wide. Antennae short, reached by the middle of body. Scapus, pedicel and meriston are evidently longer than wide, following 7–8 segments are near square—this all segments are dark brown and glossy. Next 22 (24) segments are wide and short, pale brown, dull, then next 5–6 sphere segments are dull-yellow and next more than 10 segments are small, dull-brown.

Pronotum yellow to pale brown, bordered with elevated narrow black strip, markedly enlarged on postero-lateral parts. Disk of pronotum with two big black spots antero-lateraly and one central black spot ( Fig. 9 A, B, C, D ). (Specimen “9 B” with two small black spots in posterior part of pronotum.) Shape of spots is variable. Legs dark brown, coxae and trochanters sometimes lighter, tibiae armed with strong spines; tarsomeres with large pulvilli (Fig); tarsal claws symmetrical, pale brown, arolium present. Antero-ventral margin of front femur represents type C1. Forewings (tegmina) coriaceous, very broad, reaching nearly behind the tip of abdomen, yellow to pale brown, with obvious black transversal band on the base (not on costal field), along subcosta with black stripe, usually reaching to the mid of tegmen ( Figs. 9 A, C ), sometimes longer and expanded ( Fig. 9 D ), sometimes very short ( Fig. 9 B ). Left tegmen overlapped half of the right tegmen. Right tegmen on overlapped part with bigger brown macula. Venation very dense with very rich transversal veins. Anal field very broad, anal furrow well visible, mainly in transversal part near posterior border of tegmen. Hindwings pale-brown, preaxillary area large and darker (without base and anterior margin) as anal area; anal fan is well developed, anal veins relatively closed, equally distributed, between them are darkened folds. Veins generally brown. Transversal veins present in both part of hindwings ( Fig. 9 C’).

Abdomen broad, shiny dark brown to black. Tergite T2–T7 with obvious yellowish spots near lateral margins ( Figs. 10 A, B ). Supra-anal plate in basal part dark brown, middle and posterior part yellow to pale brown ( Figs. 10 C, D ); posterior margin in the centre with shallow incision. Cerci short, not surpassing the top of supra-anal plate ( Figs. 10 A–D). Subgenital plate slightly asymmetrical, dark brown ( Fig. 10 E ); pale area around right stylus is bigger than left one ( Figs. 10 E, F, G ); styli approximately equal ( Figs. 10 F, G ).

Genitalia ( Figs. 11 A–H).

Median sclerite (L2vm) with preputial spines is palmate with 12 short spines ordered on border. Membranous part of hook (R2) on inner margin with seven folds.

Female: Figs. 9 E-E’. Measurements are in Tab. 3 . Coloration is very similar to male. Lateral and central black spots on pronotal disc are bigger and connected; on posterior part of pronotum are four smaller black spots ( Fig. 9 E ). Posterior margin of pronotum without black border. Inside of yellowish spots on head are small black spots ( Fig. 9 E’). Forewing reaching nearly behind the tip of abdomen, yellow to pale brown, without black transversal band on the base, black stripe along subcosta very narrow ( Fig. 9 E ).

Distribution. Ecuador-Oriente (=Región Amazónica) (Provinces Sucumbios, Orellana, Napo) ( Fig. 12 ). Oc- currence in Azuay Province (Andes) is ambiguous and improbable (see Remarks).

Remarks. The species Hormetica strumosa was originally described from Ecuador by Saussure & Zehntner (1895) without designation of more-accurately locality (J. Hollier, personal communication 2012; Vidlička 2013). The syntype deposited in Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de la Ville de Genève (J. Hollier, personal communication 2019) is exactly matched with published description ( Saussure & Zehntner 1895) and with here described specimens.

Hebard (1924) and subsequently Campos (1926) referred this species from the locality Cuenca (Azuay prov- ince, Ecuador) based on the juvenile female that was captured by Francisco Campos. Cuenca lies in Andy Mts. about 2500 m a.s.l. and is very atypical for the occurrence of the species from the genus Hormetica . With the exception of H. apolinari from locality Fusagasugá (1665 m a.s.l.; Hebard 1919), all other species were caught under 900 m a.s.l.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Hormetica strumosa—habitus and wing. A–D—♂; E—♀; A, B, C, D, E—dorsal view; A’, B’, D’, E’—ventral view; C’—left hind wing (from specimen shown in Fig. C). Photos taken by Roman Hergovits (without C’). Scale (a) only for fig. C’, scale (b) for all other figs.

FIGURE 10. Hormetica strumosa—abdomen, ♂. A—dorsal view, B—ventral view; C–D—T8, T9 and supra-anal plate with cerci (dorsal view; on C with subgenital plate); E—subgenital plate with styli (ventral view); F—right cercus and stylus (ventral view); G—left cercus and stylus (ventral view).

FIGURE 11. Hormetica strumosa—genitalia, ♂. A—ventral view, B, C, D—preputial spines and L2d-sclerite [L2’ on via]— ventral view, on D with part of L2vm [L2’ on lve]; E—cleft sclerite L1 [R3’ and R4’]; F—sheathed hook R2 [L3’]; G—pro- truded hook [hla with L3’-sclerite], H—membranous part of hook (detail).

FIGURE 12. Distribution of cockroach species of genera Hormetica, Lucihormetica and Quadrihormetica in South America. Dot—locality of occurrence; line—distribution areal.