Dziriblatta (Dziriblatta) undulata Bohn 2021, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Bohn, Horst
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Blattodea
Ectobiidae
Dziriblatta
Dziriblatta undulata

description: 10. Dziriblatta (Dziriblatta) undulata, spec. nov.
Figs. 23A–I, 24, 25A–I, 26E, G, 27, 28, 29
Etymology. The species name refers to the undulate shape of the posterior border of T6 having three concavities (unda, Latin word for wave).
Diagnosis. In the male sex easily recognized by the strikingly whitish area posterior to the glandular pit of T7; further characterized by the well-produced latero-posterior corners of T5, the undulate shape of the posterior border of T6 with deep lateral concavities, the huge dome-shaped glandular pit of T7 without larger internal elevations, and the dense layers of spatular bristles on the lateral parts of T5-7.
Material studied. Type material. MOROCCO. Holotype, 1♂, Rif, Bab-Besen (15 km W Ketama), 1600 m, leg. B. & H. Bohn (completely on two slides, Ma 6b/8). (Coll. Bohn, ZSM).
Additional material. MOROCCO. 1♂, 1♀, Tidiguin [= J. Tidirhine], Ketama, Rif, VI.1930, Exp. C. Bolívar (slides: ♂, Bo 229, without abdomen; ♀, Bo 137) [Ma 18]. (MNHN).— 7♂, 3♀, 3L, Tidiguin [= J. Tidirhine], Ketama, Rif, VI.1930, Exp. C. Bolívar (slide: 1♂, Bo 197) [Ma 18]; 2♀, Bab Ruadi, Beni Siyyel, VI.1932, C. Bolívar [Ma 19]; 1♂, Hauta Kasdir, Beni Seyel, Gomara, V.1941, E. Morales (slide: MNCN _Ent 233303) [Ma 19]; 5♀, Imasinen [= Imassinne], Beni Seddat, Rif, VI.1930, Exp. C. Bolívar [Ma 20]; 3♂, 2♀, 2L, Tizi [n’] Taka, Beni Seddat, Rif, VI.1930, Exp. C. Bolívar (slides: 1♂, MNCN _144929; 1♀, Bo 138) [Ma 21]; 3♀, Zoco Telata, Ketama [= Tleta Ketamen], Rif, VI.1930, Exp. C. Bolívar [Ma 22]; 1♀, Zoco Telata, Ketama, Rif, VIII.1932, F. Escalera [Ma 22]; 6♀, Iguermalen [= Iguermalet], Beni Mesdui, VI.1932, M. Escalera (slide: 1♀, Bo 138) [Ma 23]; 1♀, Iguermalen, Targuist, Rif, VI.1930, Exp. C. Bolívar [Ma 23]; 3L, Bab [-] Taza (El Ajmas, Yebala), VI.1941, E. Morales (Ma 53); 1♂, 10♀, 1L, Marruecos español, I[s]saguen, VI.1941, Morales (slide: 1♂, MNCN _233293) (Ma 105). (MNMS).— Same locality as holotype: 11♀, 14.VIII.1984 (Ma 6) / exL: 13♂, 9♀, 15L, 1.IV.1988 (Ma 6a) / 5♂, 18♀, 18O, 6. VI.1989 (slides: 1♂, Ma 6b/13; 2♀, Ma 6b/9,10); 22♂, 40♀, Rif, 3 km S Ketama, 1500 m, 5./ 6. VI.1989, leg. B. & H. Bohn (slides: 7♂, Ma 105/3–8,11; 1♀, Ma 105/10); 8♂, 5♀, ex L: 4♀, Rif, E slope of J. Kouine, 1700-1800 m, 12./ 13.IV.1998, leg. B. & H. Bohn (slide: 2♂, Ma 225/2,7). (Coll. Bohn, ZSM).
Description. Size. Length of pronotum in male 1.95–2.18 mm (mean 2.06 mm), in female 2.19–2.40 mm (mean 2.25 mm); N 8/8.
Male structures. Latero-posterior corners of T2–4 weakly produced, those of T5, 6 rather strongly produced; posterior border of T2–5 weakly convex or straight, of T6 undulate, with three concavities; in contrast to the other species of the lobososacculata -species group lateral concavities much deeper than median one, intermediate parts strongly convex, transversal ridge with a mesal excurvation to the anterior (Figs. 23A–C, F, G); in T5,6 length of preglandular margin (pm) distinctly increasing towards the median notch (Fig. 23B,C); surfaces of T3–6 mesally deepened to a common shallow sagittal trough, deepest and broadest on T6, fading away in both dimensions up to T3 (the trough not visible in the figures). T7 (Figs. 23D, H, I, 24) with a deeply concave posterior border, producing broadly rounded triangular latero-posterior corners; surface of the tergite appearing tripartite by areas with whitish cuticle encircling the opening of the glandular pit; consisting of two narrow, towards posteriorly converging areas with longitudinal folds (upper arrows in Fig. 24), each starting in a membraneous area at the latero-anterior corners of the tergite and posteriorly merging into a broader whitish area with wrinkled surface extending between the posterior borders of pit opening and tergite (between lower arrows of Fig. 24). Opening of the glandular pit large, broadly transversely oval, occupying more than half of the breadth and about two thirds of the length of the tergite (between ab and pb). Pit rather deep, dome-shaped, with steeply descending walls; bottom small, bowl-shaped, adjacent on the anterior wall with a membraneous window (w) containing the openings of the two pouch lobes. Posterior wall with a low, narrow, partly unsclerotized sagittal ridge (pr) reaching down to the bottom and up to the posterior border of the tergite. Pouch lobes (Fig. 24) narrowly cylindrical, of more than abdominal length, wriggled, opening into the pit near together but separately within the membraneous window; interiorly near the opening with numerous bristles reaching with their ends into the pit hole; cuticular lining of the lobes with bristle-like microtrichial structures, shorter than in the preceding three species and radially aligned (Figs. 25H, I). T10 with median part of posterior border shallowly, but distinctly concave (Figs. 23E). Spatular bristles laterally on T5–7: densely arranged in all three tergites (Figs. 25E–G). No glandular pores on T2.
Colouration. Very similar to Dz. (Dz.) lobososacculata. Tegmina (Figs. 25A–D) transparent; in the male along the anterior margin infuscated, along the posterior margin with variously sized patches, at the base partly uniting to a larger patch; female tegmina only basally at the posterior margin slightly infuscated, but disc often with several dark spots of various size. Male. Mainly brown to dark brown. Head dark, with yellowish post-interocular stripe; discs of thoracic nota uniformly dark, margins transparent (Fig. 25C); legs mostly dark except for the lighter coloured coxatrochanter and femur-tibia joints, rarely with more extended yellowish areas; tergites mainly dark, but often variably lightened, especially laterally on T2–4, with a maculose appearence (Fig. 23A); lightenings in the specimens from the most eastern locality (Ma 225, Fig. 23G) more extensive than in those from the more western localities; T7 medially posteriorly to the pit opening strikingly whitish (Figs. 23D, H, I, 24); sternites almost completely dark, only lateral margins slightly lightened. Female. Head mainly dark, with yellowish post-interocular stripe; discs of thoracic nota dark, at most with very slight lightenings, margins transparent (Fig. 25D); legs almost completely yellowish; tergites on a yellowish ground colour extended maculose; sternites mainly dark, laterally with a relatively broad yellowish margin.
Distribution. Distributed in the Rif mountains between Chefchaouen in the West and Aknoul (about longitude of Al Hoceima) in the East, at elevations of 1500–1800 m (Figs. 27, 28).
It was not possible to exactly identify the localities Bab Ruadi and Hauta Kasdir; both should be situated in the region Beni Esjjel [in older literature called Beni Sayel, B. Seyel, or B. Siyyel] in the NE of Chefchaouen [= El Aaiún]. The position of the corresponding locality [Ma 19] in the distribution map, therefore, only indicates the approximate position.
Remarks. The distribution of this species partially overlaps with the distribution of Phyllodromica vignai Failla & Messina, 1989; both species, which are very similarly coloured, were found together at locality Ma 6 (Bohn 1993). While the males of the two species can easily be distinguished solely by external inspection (Ph. vignai has longer tegmina considerably surpassing the posterior border of the mesonotum), a reliable distinction of the females requires the study of the genital sclerites: dorsal basivalvular sclerites (bd) of both sides in Ph. vignai separate (Fig. 26F), in Dz. (Dz.) undulata (as in most of the subgenera of the genus Dziriblatta) fused to an ringlike structure (Fig. 26E); laterosternal shelf (ls) in Ph. vignai fairly rounded with long lateral arms (a) (Fig. 26H), in Dz. (Dz.) undulata (as in most subgenera of Dziriblatta) transversal with very short arms (Fig. 26G).
description: Published as part of Bohn, Horst, 2021, Revision of the genus Dziriblatta Chopard, 1936 (Blattodea, Ectobiidae, Ectobiinae) III. The species of the subgenus Dziriblatta, pp. 201-250 in Zootaxa 4964 (2) on pages 214-215, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4964.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4709177