Pycnoscelus Scudder 1862
Creators: name: Wang, Yi-Shu
name: Dong, Xiao-Jiao
name: Wang, Zong-Qing
name: Che, Yan-Li
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Blattodea
Blaberidae
Pycnoscelus

description: GenusPycnoscelusScudder, 1862
Fig. 1 A – C
Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862: 421; Hebard 1917: 269; Roth 1998: 94; Anisyutkin 2018: 80. Type species: Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758) = Pycnoscelus obscurus Scudder, 1862, nymph, adventive, by monotypy.
Epilampria Tepper, 1894: 174. Type species: Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758) = Epilampria tatei Tepper, by monotypy. Synonymized by Princis 1964: 263.
Diagnosis.
Pycnoscelus species can be easily recognized by the shortened fore tibiae, which is thickened distally with strong spines (Fig. 1 A), as well as the right posterolateral corner of male subgenital plate angularly produced and upturned (Fig. 1 C).
Description.
Facial part of head and pronotum with distinct punctations. Pronotum with the anterior margin nearly truncate, hind margin convex medially. Anterior margin of fore femur Type C 1. Hind metatarsus longer or nearly equal to the remaining segments combined; armed with large pulvilli, occupying more than half length of the segment (Fig. 1 B). Claws symmetrical and unspecialized, arolium present. Subgenital plate covered by the eighth sternum; right style typically large. Male genitalia: right phallomere with R 3 forked caudally, and the left branch usually wider than the right; R 5 sometimes absent. Apical part of sclerite L 2 D well sclerotized, with the sac-like apical membrane wrapped. Sclerite L 3 hooked with small, curved portion. Sclerite L 4 U distinct and divided into two parts.
Worldwide checklist and species grouping of Pycnoscelus
Two groups of Pycnoscelus species were established based on the shape of right style (Roth 1998):
indicus species group: the right style elongate with apex directed posteriorly; includes 12 species: P. conferta (Walker, 1869: 148); P. femapterus Roth, 1998: 108; P. gorochovi Anisyutkin, 2002: 352; P. indicus (Fabricius, 1775: 272); P. janetscheki Bey-Bienko, 1968: 60; P. nigra (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865: 280); P. puteus sp. nov.; P. rothi Anisyutkin, 2002: 355; P. schwendingeri Anisyutkin, 2018: 80; P. surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758: 424); P. undulatus sp. nov.; P. vietnamensis Anisyutkin, 2002: 355.
striatus species group: the right style broader, plate-like, with apex directed to the left; includes five species: P. aurantius Hanitsch, 1935: 18; P. rufus Bey-Bienko, 1950: 268; P. semivitreus Princis, 1967: 148; P. striatus (Kirby, 1903: 378); P. tenebrigera (Walker, 1868: 31).
Note: P. micropterus Hanitsch, 1931 has not been attributed to any group due to the lack of information on its right style. Additionally, there are six unnamed species: Pycnoscelus sp. A Roth, 1998: 121; Pycnoscelus sp. B Roth, 1998: 123; Pycnoscelus sp. C Roth, 1998: 123; Pycnoscelus sp. D Lucañas & Lit, 2016: 9; Pycnoscelus sp. E (Malaysia, Borneo); Pycnoscelus sp. F (China, Yunnan). The latter two species are included in this work.
description: Published as part of Wang, Yi-Shu, Dong, Xiao-Jiao, Wang, Zong-Qing & Che, Yan-Li, 2025, Taxonomic update of Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862 (Blattodea, Blaberidae, Pycnoscelinae), with descriptions of two new species from China, pp. 45-67 in ZooKeys 1231 on pages 45-67, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1231.141287