Rhabdoblatta punctipennis (Saussure, 1895)

Mbia, Donald-L’or Nyame, Ngon, Eric Belmond Biram à, Legendre, Frédéric & Menbohan, Samuel Foto, 2024, Semi-aquatic Epilamprinae cockroaches (Blattodea: Blaberidae) in Cameroon: towards a revision of continental African species of Rhabdoblatta Kirby, 1903 and Africalolampra Roth, 1995, European Journal of Taxonomy 946 (1), pp. 1-57 : 29-31

Rhabdoblatta punctipennis (Saussure, 1895) Fig. 18 ; Table 5

Epilampra punctipennis Saussure, 1895: 355 .

Heterolampra punctipennis – Kirby 1904: 123.

Epilampra punctipennis – Shelford 1910: 14. — Kevan & Knipper 1961: 409. — Princis 1963b: 200. Rhabdoblatta punctipennis – Princis 1967: 681.

Africalolampra punctipennis – Anisyutkin 2016: 141 .

Material examined

TANZANIA • 1 ♂, with cristallized genitalia slide; “ D.O. Afrika (Morogoro); Nachl. Schmitt; 1969; 1492”; LUHM .

Diagnosis and history

This species was initially described as Epilampra punctipennis (Saussure 1895) before first being transferred to the genus Rhabdoblatta ( Princis 1967) and then to the genus Africalolampra ( Anisyutkin 2016) . However, this species does not share the diagnostic characters of Africalolampra as defined by Roth (1995) and adopted here. It notably has a strong sexual dimorphism and no tergal specialization. Anisyutkin (2016) also noted that the structure of the head of R. punctipennis strongly differs from that of the type species, Africalolampra ehrmanni , and of A. erubescens . Therefore, we transfer this species back to the genus Rhabdoblatta .

Saussure (1895) described and illustrated the habitus of a female specimen, while Princis (1963b) was the first to describe the male of this species. Anisyutkin (2016) complemented this description, including with male genitalia. We complement this description with pictures of the habitus and close-ups on diagnostic characters ( Fig. 18 ), and with a list of published localities for this species ( Table 5 ).

Measurements of adults

Male (n = 1): pronotum length ×width: 5.5×7.9, tegmina length: 20.4, overall length ×width: 18.2 ×9.5.

Habitat

Reported from understory of coconut plantations ( Kevan & Knipper 1961).

Distribution

This species is known from Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and Mozambique.

Figures

Fig. 18. Rhabdoblatta punctipennis (Saussure, 1895), male specimen (LUHM-1492). A. Habitus in dorsal and ventral views. B. Pronotum. C. Head. D. Tarsi and claws of front leg. E. Subgenital plate. F. Front femora. Scale bars: A = 5 mm; B–F = 1 mm.