Semi-aquatic Epilamprinae cockroaches (Blattodea: Blaberidae) in Cameroon: towards a revision of continental African species of Rhabdoblatta Kirby, 1903 and Africalolampra Roth, 1995
Author
Mbia, Donald-L’or Nyame
5CE07C5E-9C4A-4A42-87C8-BBC8432FA2FA
Laboratory of Hydrobiology and Environment, Faculty of Science, P. O Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon.
nyamedonal@gmail.com
Author
Ngon, Eric Belmond Biram à
169E7869-A6D2-418D-90D3-C16DA625DE61
Laboratory of Hydrobiology and Environment, Faculty of Science, P. O Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon. & Institute of Geological and Mining Research, P. O Box 4110, Yaounde, Cameroon.
birame.eric@yahoo.fr
Author
Legendre, Frédéric
73B1BA6E-E129-4B14-A604-44B2220673C5
Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP 50, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.
frederic.legendre@mnhn.fr
Author
Menbohan, Samuel Foto
2B6302EA-0D70-4716-8CBB-3B80F355AFD0
Laboratory of Hydrobiology and Environment, Faculty of Science, P. O Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon.
sfotomenbohan@yahoo.com
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2024
2024-07-26
946
1
1
57
https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2615/11981
journal article
10.5852/ejt.2024.946.2615
2118-9773
13177205
EFC377D4-50BD-43BD-A2E0-F2256AC38523
Genus
Rhabdoblatta
Kirby, 1903
Type
species
Rhabdoblatta praecipua
(
Walker, 1868
)
.
Diagnosis and history
This genus is composed of more than 150 species distributed in Asia and Africa (
Beccaloni 2014
), and is known to be polyphyletic (e.g.,
Legendre
et al.
2017
;
Yang
et al.
2019
;
Wang
et al.
2023
). Clarifying its delineation is not within the aim of this manuscript. The latest diagnosis of the genus was given in
Yang
et al.
(2019)
, but that diagnosis might rely mainly on Asian species and may not fit well with some African species (e.g., the widest part of the pronotum is not necessarily in the middle). The following African species share the diagnostic features of
Rhabdoblatta
but not those of
Africalolampra
:
Rhabdoblata punctulata
(
Saussure, 1891
)
has serrated claws but two styli and no tergal gland,
R. parva
(
Chopard, 1952
)
has two styli, unserrated claws and a tergal specialization on the 7
th
tergite,
R. lynceae
(
Gerstaecker, 1883
)
has slightly serrated claws but two styli and a tergal specialization on the 5
th
tergite,
R. pluriramosa
(
Karny, 1915
)
has two styli, unserrated claws and no tergal gland, and the female has brachypterous wings,
R. pallida
(
Borg, 1902
)
has one stylus and serrated claws but a tergal specialization at the junction of the 8
th
and 9
th
tergites,
R. punctipennis
(Saussure, 1895)
has one stylus and slightly serrated claws but no tergal specialization,
R. fotoi
sp. nov.
has serrated claws but two styli and a tergal gland on the 4
th
abdominal tergite.
For the following African species of
Rhabdoblatta
, their original descriptions did not mention all the diagnostic characters or were based on female specimens only, so that it is premature to envision any taxonomic change or confirmation:
Rhabdoblatta cincta
(
Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865
)
,
R. trilobata
(
Saussure, 1891
)
,
R. usambarensis
(
Rehn, 1931
)
,
R. malagassa
(
Saussure & Zehntner, 1895
)
and
R. wittei
(
Jolivet, 1954
)
. Note that the
type
specimen of
R. usambarensis
(
Rehn, 1931
)
is supposed to be deposited in the
Berlin
Zoological Museum but it was impossible to locate this specimen. As for
R. wittei
(
Jolivet, 1954
)
, the description mentions tegmina that do not extend beyond the 3
rd
tergite (sex not specified).