A taxonomic study of the beetle cockroaches (Diploptera Saussure) from China, with notes on the genus and species worldwide (Blattodea: Blaberidae: Diplopterinae)
Author
Li, Xinran
Author
Wang, Zongqing
text
Zootaxa
2015
2015-09-14
4018
1
35
56
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4018.1.2
b3ca8a6f-989a-4e27-905d-21f7db7de681
1175-5326
289448
F378489D-A55C-4027-B02A-2F7CFBE4724A
Diploptera erythrocephala
Princis, 1950
(
Figs. 6
,
60–62
)
Diploptera erythrocephala
Princis, 1950: 163
, locality Borneo.
Taxonomic notes.
The proposition of
D. erythrocephala
was based merely on the difference from other species in coloration, which may be within intraspecific variation. Comparing the
holotype
of
D. erythrocephala
with specimens of
D. minor
, it is found that their morphology is almost the same aside from the degree of color darkness,
i.e.
,
D. erythrocephala
is somewhat lighter than
D. minor
, so as to have a reddish brown head, to which the specific epithet refers. However, since color is relatively an unreliable diagnostic character and there is no other evidence to separate them as two independent species, the
holotype
of
D. erythrocephala
is likely to be an extremely light-colored
D. minor
.
Type
material examined.
HOLOTYPE
(
MZLU
) fixed by monotypy,
male
, “O.
Borneo
,
Kariorang
,
IV.1937
, coll.
Mrs. M.-E. Walsh
”.