Dziriblatta (Dziriblatta) algerica (Bolívar, 1881)

Bohn, Horst, 2021, Revision of the genus Dziriblatta Chopard, 1936 (Blattodea, Ectobiidae, Ectobiinae) III. The species of the subgenus Dziriblatta, Zootaxa 4964 (2), pp. 201-250 : 207-208

5. Dziriblatta (Dziriblatta) algerica (Bolívar, 1881)

Figs. 1B–E , 8 , 9A–F , 27 , 28 , 29

For distribution references and characters not treated here see the description of the species in Bohn 2019, p. 25, figs. 15A‒I, 16J, 29, 32.

Male structures. ( Figs. 8 , 9 ). The glandular pit of Dz. (Dz.) algerica is, similarly as in the preceding four species, partly bipartite by a sagittal ridge; but the central pit and its trails are considerably broader, and the lateral gutters ascending from the trails to the surface taper off without forming a hole at the end. The pouch lobes also show some similarities with the preceding species: they have a short common end piece, and the ventral wall of the lobes is densely covered with long bristles; but in most other structures there are great differences: the lobes are considerably longer than the respective tergite, they are narrowly lappet-shaped, only weakly sclerotized and throughout dorso-ventrally flattened, leaving only little space between the two layers consisting of the dorsal and ventral wall of the pouch. Accordingly the opening of the pouch is also narrow, slit-like—between the edge of the opening (po) indicated by the arrows 1 to 3 in Fig. 9A , and the ventral wall of the pouch lying immediately below: the white area partly covered with bristles—but wide enough to allow the passage of longer bristles reaching from the interior of the pouch into the pit. The lobes are transversely oriented only in the apical two-thirds. In the basal third they form, always as closely approached double-layer, an arc of nearly 180° fairly around the longitudinal axis towards the ventro-posterior. This curve, not visible in Figs. 8 and 9A due to focus stacking throughout the whole object, is at least imaginable in Figs. 9B and C with focus only on the dorsal or ventral half, respectively. The pouch opening follows the curve of the lobes at their base ( Fig. 9A–C , points 1‒3) and ends at the inner surface of anterior wall of the trail (more or less back side of the figure) in a gutterlike structure representing, in this image, the right corner of the opening ( Figs. 9A, C, D , point 3). The corner of the opening represents the basal end of the lateral edge of the pouch lobe; thus, the gutterlike structure continues up to the tip of the lobe, though much less or not sclerotized ( Fig. 9A , from point 3 to 4). At point 2 the pre-glandular margin of the tergite, till there together with the pouch forming the edge of the pouch opening, separates from the pouch ( Fig. 9B ) and, continuing the course in a lateral direction, tapers off in the anterior wall of the lateral gutter (for a more detailed explanation see heading of Fig. 9 ). Glandular pores laterally on T2 numerous, covering an area of about half of the length of the pre-ridge area (fig. 15E in Bohn 2019).

Remarks. The structure of the pouch and its lobes in this species is—as compared to the other species of this subgenus—unexpectedly complex. It is not completely clear how the very narrow cavities of the pouch are connected and on which ways the secretions produced in the lobes can pass into the pit. Histological sectioning or microtomography studies will be necessary to clarify these questions. The system can be seen as a preadaptation for the development of the pouch structure present in the lobososacculata -species group, but its function in the organism and the importance of the differences to the more primitive system for its function are not known and only approachable when the construction is fully known.

Figures

FIGURE 1.A. T7 of the male type of Dziriblatta (Dz.) bolivari, dorsal view. Abbreviations: ep common end piece of the pouch lobes; gu gutter; h lateral hole; lbr bundle of long bristles protruding from the pouch into the pit hole; sbr short bristles arranged in short ribbon on the pit bottom; p pouch lobe with long bristles shining through; pm pre-glandular margin of T7 covering dorsally the basal parts of the pouch and forming together with the roof of the pouch the edge of the pouch opening po; pw posterior wall of the pit; r sagittal ridge; tl trail, sclerotized posterior part of the pit bottom.—B–D. Dz. (Dz.) algerica, lateral parts of T5 (B), T6 (C) and T7 (D) showing sparsely distributed spatular bristles on all three tergites, as is true for all species of the bolivari-species group.—E, F. Shape of the posterior border pt of T10 in Dz. (Dz.) algerica (E) and Dz. (Dz) bolivari (F), c cercus.—Enlargements: Same scale for B–D and for E,F.—Identifications:A (Type of Dz. (Dz) bolivari), B–D (Ma 118/1), E (Ma 57/3), F (Sp 209/1).

FIGURE 8. Dziriblatta (Dz.) algerica, tergite 7 of male with glandular pit and the two pouch lobes, from the locality Ma 24/4 in Morocco.—Abbreviations: ep common end piece of the pouch lobes; gu gutter; lbr long bristles within the pouch lobes; m membraneous anterior part of the pit bottom; pm pre-glandular margin of T7; po dorsal edge of pouch opening; pw posterior wall of pit; s sclerotized part of pouch lobes; r sagittal ridge; tl trail.

FIGURE 9. A–F. Structure of glandular pouch and pit of T7 in the male of Dziriblatta (Dz.) algerica. A–C: Right side of pit region in dorsal view, with different focus stacking to visualize the curvation of the pouch base towards ventrally. A: focus stacking throughout the whole object, pouch lobe, therefore, throughout in focus; B: focus stacking only through the dorsal half, only mesal part of lobe base in focus; C: focus stacking only through the ventral half, only lateral part of the lobe in focus.—The dorsal edge of the pouch opening po follows the curvation of the lobe base, visible in A as a continuous line from 1 over 2 to 3 (the apparent interruptions between 1 and 2 are caused by the thick layer of bristles below). In the first part of the course (B, 1 to 2) pouch and pre-glandular margin of T7 commonly form the edge of the pouch opening; at 2 they separate, the edge of the pre-glandular margin continues the previous course towards laterally (arrow head), modelling the more rounded anterior edge of the gutter; the edge of the pouch opening beyond point 2 continues its turn in ventro-posterior direction, around the longitudinal axis (in C, 2 to 3) and finally ends at the anterior wall of the trail (back side of the figure) in a short gutterlike structure opening into the trail (A,C, point 3); the gutterlike structure continues along the lateral edge of the pouch lobe up to the tip of the lobe (in A, 3 to 4 at the tip). D: Left trail of same specimen in higher magnification showing the pouch gutter (point 3) ending in the anterior wall aw of the trail. The other edge of the gutter is not visible in dorsal view due to the dense packing with bristles, but can be shown in ventral view in E,F depicting the central area of the pit. E: Same depth as in the preceding figure with gutter openings on both sides; F: slightly more dorsal focusing allowing the sight on the other edge of the pouch gutter (upper arrow).—Abbreviations: aw anterior wall of the trail; gu gutter of pit; p lateral border of pouch lobe; pm preglandular margin of T7; pw posterior wall of the pit; r sagittal ridge; tl bottom of trail.—Enlargements: Same scale for A–C and for D–F.—Identification: Ma 25/1 (A–F).

FIGURE 27. Distribution of the species of subgenus Dziriblatta in Morocco and southern Spain (for mountains and locality numbers see Fig. 28). The lobososacculata-species group is distributed along the main mountain ranges of the Middle and High Atlas and the Rif, the bolivari-species group mainly further North: along the western Tell Atlas in Algeria (see fig. 32 in Bohn 2019), in northern Morocco including the northern part of the Middle Atlas, and in southern Spain along the Cordillera Penibetica, West of the Sierra Nevada up to Algeciras. The names of the species and their symbols are listed in the sequence of their distribution, which in the bolivari-species group is from East to West, in the lobososacculata-species group from North to South.The numbered arrows indicate localities with the common occurrence of two different species of subgenus Dziriblatta. In most cases Dz. (Dz.) algerica is found associated with another species, at locality 1 with Dz. (Dz.) bolivari, at 2 with Dz. (Dz.) ramososacculata, and at 4 with Dz. (Dz.) lobososacculata; at locality 3 Dz. (Dz.) ramososacculata is occurring together with Dz. (Dz.) planotuberculata.—Abbreviation: indet. females = indetermined females, only in Spain.

FIGURE 28. Locality numbers of all species of subgenus Dziriblatta found in Morocco (Ma) and Spain (Sp.).

FIGURE 29. Cladogram of the species of subgenus Dziriblatta reconstructed via the states of 9 male characters as listed below. Due to the complexity of the structures the “characters” are mostly character complexes rather than single characters. The presumed character states of the last common ancestor are listed at the root of the cladogram.—The alphabetic sequence of the states usually follows the assumed sequence in the evolution. But after a branching two different evolutionary lines may develop; the branching point is marked by an arrow (k) indicating where the line branching off is continued. The end of a line is marked by a slash.—For the species of the bolivari subgroup a separate character (10) was introduced in order to allow a differentiation between the four very similar species.