Dziriblatta (Pauciscleroblatta) habbachii, Bohn, 2020

Bohn, Horst, 2020, Revision of the genus Dziriblatta Chopard, 1936 (Blattodea, Ectobiidae, Ectobiinae) II. The species of the subgenera Pauciscleroblatta and Monoscleroblatta, Zootaxa 4728 (3), pp. 301-333 : 306

3. Dziriblatta (Pauciscleroblatta) habbachii , spec. nov.

Figs. 3 A–O, 8E, F, 16, 17.

Etymology. The species is called in honour of Dr. Wafa Habbachi (Université Badji Mokhtar, Annaba, Algeria) who had together with his staff (Yasmine Adjami, Imen Azzoui, and Fatiha Masna) collected this species during a study about the insect fauna of Algerian forests.

Material studied.

Type material. Algeria. Holotype, ♂, Algeria, Prov. El-Tarf, Région de Lehnaya, Parc National d’El-Kala , 36°51’26”N 8°11’53” E, 8 m, 14.I.–27.IV.2016, leg. W.Habbachi (completely on two slides, Al 32b/4). ( ZSM, Coll. Bohn) . Paratype, 1♂, same data as holotype. (Université Badji Mokhtar, Annaba, Algeria, coll. W.Habbachi) .

Additional material. Algeria. 10♂, 7♀, 4L, same data as holotype (slides: ♂, Al 32b/3–6,13,14; ♀, Al 32b/7,8,15–17) ; 1♀, same locality as holotype, but 15.IV.2017. ( ZSM, Coll. Bohn) .

Description. Size. Length of pronotum in male 1.79–1.82 mm, in holotype 1.79 (mean 1.80 mm), in female 2.14–2.21 mm (mean 2.18); N 3/4.

Structures. Tegmina of both sexes rounded triangular ( Figs. 3N, O ). Male. T2 with lateral porous field along the anterior border deepened to a short transversal trough occupying less than a fourth of the tergite breadth, and more than half of the length of the pre-ridge area ( Figs. 3A, H, I ); dispersed smaller glandular pores are present in the pre-ridge area of T3–7, on T3 ( Fig. 3J ) mainly laterally at about the same position as the trough on T2, in the following tergites also at further mesal positions; T8 ( Fig. 3K ) and T9 with glandular pores in high density mesally near the anterior border of the tergites; T7 gland variable, without species specific features ( Figs. 3 D–G); posterior lobe of S9 similarly shaped as in Dz. (P.) galilaeana ( Fig. 8E ); scale sclerites in similar configuration as in Dz. (P.) kroumiriensis : in addition to nos.1–3 with an unregularly shaped area with scalelike structures, possibly no. 4 in statu nascendi ( Bohn 2019, fig. 21D), but no.1 shorter, with less pleats ( Fig. 8F ).

Colouration. Male. Head dark, with a straw-coloured post-interocular band; legs almost completely straw coloured, only basal part of coxae darkened; disc of thoracal nota dark, mesally with a slight lightening, narrow on the pronotum, broader and maculose on the posterior two nota ( Fig. 3L ), colouration in this respect very similar to the colouration of Dziriblatta (Discleroblatta) merrakescha ( BOHN 2019, fig. 3N); abdominal tergites with pre-ridge area completely dark, patches of the post-ridge area rather extended, T7 mostly dark, only at the latero-posterior corners lightened, T8–10 almost completely dark; abdominal sternites dark except for narrowly lightened lateral margins. Female. Head much lighter than in male, brownish, with straw-coloured post-interocular band; legs almost completely straw coloured; thoracal nota mainly straw coloured, with the usual pattern of darker spots, discs with larger, but very indistinct patches of light brown colour, meso- and metathoracal nota laterally with a broad longitudinal blackish marking, in weaker expression also present on the pronotum disc ( Fig. 3M ); adominal tergites apart from the darker spot pattern with little extended markings of a very light brownish colour; abdominal sternites dark with broadly lightened lateral margins, sometimes also with lightened areas further mesally.

Distribution. So far only found at one locality in the far East of Algeria, near the frontier to Tunisia ( Figs. 16 , 17 ).

Remarks. The male of Dz. (P.) kroumirienis has a very similar glandular trough on T2, but differs in the distribution of glandular pores on the other tergites: T3–8 without glandular pores, only T9 as in Dz. (P.) habbachii with numerous large pores. Moreover, the two species are easily distinguished in both sexes by their different colouration.

Figures

FIGURE 3 A–O. Structures of Dziriblatta (Pauciscleroblatta) habbachii, M, O female, all other figures male. A: T2, anteriorly on both sides with a trough with glandular pores (arrows); B: T5; C: T6; D: T7, with gl gland; E–G: T7 gland, f membraneous field with forceps bristles, p bilobed glandular pouch; H, I: trough with glandular pores from the left (H) or right side (I) of T2, black arrows mark the anterior, white arrows the posterior edge of the trough; J, K: glandular pores on the right side of T3 (J), and mesally on T8 (K); L, M: thoracal nota of male (L) and female (M); N, O: tegmen of male (N) and female (O).—Enlargements: Same scale for A–D, for E–G, for H,I, and for J,K.—Identifications: A (Al 32b/5), B–E,K,L (holotype, Al 32b/4), F (Al 32b/3), G (Al 32b/6), H–J (Al 32b/5), M (Al 32b/16), N (Al 32b/14), O (Al 32b/15).

FIGURE 8 A–H. Male subgenital plate (A,C,E,G) and scale sclerites (B,D,F,H) of species of subgenus Pauciscleroblatta, dorsal view. A, B: Dz. (P.) galilaeana; C, D: Dz. (P.) cyprica; E, F: Dz. (P.) habbachii; G, H: Dz. (P.) stenoptera. Subgenital plate and corresponding scale sclerites from the same specimen, but partly in different orientation. Abbreviations: 1–4 numbers of scale sclerites, ea endophallus apodem, cs cleft sclerite of ‘right’ phallomere, in B lying above scale sclerite no. 2, rb, lb left and right border of S9, s stylus.—Identifications: A,B (Cy 38/2), C,D (Is 3/5), E,F (Al 32b/5), G,H (holotype, Tu 7/1).

FIGURE 16. Distribution of four species of subgenus Pauciscleroblatta in Algeria and Tunisia. The arrows point to localities where each two species had been found (compare with Fig. 17).

FIGURE 17. Localities and their numbers to the distribution of subgenus Pauciscleroblatta species in Algeria and Tunisia.. author's own material, · material from museums.