Symplocodes marmorata subsp. tsaii, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Zheng, Yuhong
name: Wang, Chenchen
name: Che, Yanli
name: Wang, Zongqing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Blattodea
Ectobiidae
Symplocodes
Symplocodes marmorata
Symplocodes marmorata tsaii (bey-Bienko, 1958)

description: Symplocodes marmorata tsaii (Bey-Bienko, 1958) comb. nov.
(Figures 1E, F, 4A – O, 8J – L)
Symplocodes tsaii Bey-Bienko, 1958: 673.
Materials examined
One male, China, Yunnan Prov., Simao, 29 May 1986, coll. PZ Feng (SWU); one male, China, Sichuan Prov., Yanyuan, Jinhe, 1270 m, 30 June 1984, coll. SY Wang (SWU); two males, China, Guizhou Prov., Wangmo, 5 – 7 June 1982, coll. PZ Feng (SWU); two males, China, Yunnan Prov., Xishuangbanna, Meng ’ a, 1050 – 1080 m, 8 July 1958, coll. FJ Pu (SWU); one female, China, Yunnan Prov., Xishuangbanna, Meng ’ a, 1050 – 1080 m, 17 July 1958, coll. FJ Pu (SWU); two males and one female, China, Yunnan Prov., Dali, Yangbi, west bank of Yangbi River, 15 June 1999, coll. SH Yang (DLU); one female, China, Yunnan Prov., Dali, Pingpo, 1600 m, 15 June 1999, coll. H An (DLU); one female, China, Yunnan Prov., Dali, Pingpo, 1600 m, 15 June 1999, coll. Z Xu (DLU); one male, China, Sichuan Prov., Xichang, 18 July 2004, coll. J Li and CX Yuan (SYSU); one male, China, Yunnan Prov., Dali, Yangbi, Pingpo, 1600 m, 15 June 1999, coll. Z Xu (DLU); two females, China, Yunnan Prov., Zhaotong, Huanghua, Yangjiawan, 3 – 30 August 2007, collector unknown (SWU); three males and two females, China, Yunnan Prov., Zhaotong, Huanghua, 7 – 19 September 2007, collector unknown (SWU).
Redescription
Length, male, overall length including tegmen: 15.5 – 16.5 mm; pronotum length × width: 2.7 – 3.1 mm × 3.5 – 4.2 mm; tegmen length: 13.5 – 14.5 mm. Female, overall length including tegmen: 15.1 – 16.0 mm; pronotum length × width: 3.0 – 3.1 mm × 4.0 – 4.1 mm; tegmen length: 13.5 – 14.6 mm.
Body medium, yellowish brown (Figure 1E). Vertex blackish brown. Face yellowish brown, with one reddish brown spot near antennal socket (Figure 4A). Ocellar spot yellowish white. Fifth maxillary palpomere brown with apex yellowish white, the others yellowish brown (Figure 1F). Antennae yellowish brown with apex blackish brown. Pronotum yellowish brown, without macula or with two V-shaped maculae; each lateral corner with one curved dark brown stripe, lateral borders nearly hyaline (Figures 1E, 4D). Tegmina yellowish brown and hind wings hyaline. First through sixth abdominal terga blackish brown; sterna yellowish brown and lateral borders with black irregular maculae, or first through seventh segments black in centre (Figure 1F).
Vertex with interocular space narrow, less than the distance between antennal sockets (Figure 4A). Third and fourth maxillary palpi approximately same length, and both slightly longer than the fifth (Figure 4B). Pronotum subelliptical, widest near the middle posteriorly, hind margin slightly produced at middle (Figure 4D). Both tegmina and hind wings fully developed, extending beyond the end of abdomen. Tegmen with nine anterior rami of radius and 11 apical rami of radius, one apical ramus branched at the apical margin; median vein with three branches; cubitus vein with two branches, one of which is forked again (Figure 4E). Hind wing with branches of R1 and one anterior ramus of radius; median vein curved and simple; cubitus vein with a single complete branch after the middle (Figure 4F). Front femur Type A3 (Figure 4C), pulvilli on four proximal tarsomeres. Tarsal claws symmetrical and distinctly dentate (Figure 8J – L). Seventh abdominal tergum with a pair of oblique ridges meeting near posterior margin of the sixth segment (visible in pinned specimen); the centre hyaline with a scattered group of minute setae (invisible in pinned specimen) (Figure 4G).
Supra-anal plate (Figure 4H – J) in ventral view symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical, with hind margin more or less concave in the middle and several spines near hind margin; right and left paraprocts dissimilar, each with 6 – 10 spines. Intercercal processes varied, of which apices are divided into two to four spinous up-curved branches, the upper one obviously larger than the rest. Subgenital plate (Figure 4K, L) strongly asymmetrical, in dorsal view right posterolateral corner with hairy process protruding to upper right; left lateral margin with a cylindrical process, whose apex is setose, and with a row of setae at inner basal margin; one irregular sclerite twisting and protruding near the centre of subgenital plate or close to the incision, with apex setose; one sclerite with long setae reaching left posterolateral corner. Right stylus finger-like, left stylus absent. Male genitalia with sclerotized portion of L3 (Figure 4M) very short and without pre-apical incision; L2vm (Figure 4N) slender, rod-like and curved, with a slim membranous branch near apical third; R2 (Figure 4O) with a curved cleft, resembling a bean with a short bud; R3 (Figure 4O) with upper lobe rod-like and swelling at apex, and with lower lobe irregular.
Female similar to male, supra-anal plate symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical, subgenital plate simple with hind margin rounded.
Remarks
Based on specimens of this species from various localities and illustrations provided by Roth (1999), the intraspecific variation of the intercercal process has a stable geographical gradient (Figure 5). The intercercal processes of individuals from the east to Hengduan mountains (Figure 5) have the upper spine-like branch larger than the lower (Figure 4H – J), while those of samples from the west, S. marmorata marmorata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893), are the opposite (Figure 3H). In the context of other characters including phallomeres, samples exhibit no differences between the east and the west. So it is reasonable to treat these two populations as different subspecies isolated by a geographical barrier.
In addition, intrasubspecific variations occur in the intercercal process (Figure 4H – J) and subgenital plate (Figure 4K, L). Based on the materials examined, similar intercercal processes are found in different localities, e.g. the form similar to Figure 4H being distributed in different locations of Yunnan (Meng ’ a, Simao, Yangbi). On the contrary, varied intercercal processes could be found at the same locality, e.g. specimens depicted as Figure 4H and 4J are from Meng ’ a, while those depicted as Figure 4I and 4H are both found in Yangbi. The same situation applies for the subgenital plate.
Distribution
China (Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan).
description: Published as part of Zheng, Yuhong, Wang, Chenchen, Che, Yanli & Wang, Zongqing, 2015, The species of Symplocodes Hebard (Blattodea: Ectobiidae: Blattellinae) with description of a new species from China, pp. 339-361 in Journal of Natural History 50 on pages 345-349, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1079337, http://zenodo.org/record/3992080