Rhabdoblatta pluriramosa
Creators: name: Mbia, Donald-L'or Nyame
name: Ngon, Eric Belmond Biram à
name: Legendre, Frédéric
name: Menbohan, Samuel Foto
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Blattodea
Blaberidae
Rhabdoblatta
Rhabdoblatta pluriramosa

description: Rhabdoblatta pluriramosa (Karny, 1915)
Figs 22–25; Table 7
Ischnoptera pluriramosa Karny, 1915: 144.
Epilampra pluriramosa – Lamotte & Roy 1961a: 4040; 1961b: 4209; 1962: 26. — Princis 1963a: 138. Rhabdoblatta pluriramosa – Kumar 1975: 81. — Lamotte & Roy 2003: 62.
Material examined
REPUBLIC OF GUINEA • 1 ♂; “ Guinée, Nimba, Camp I; 12-13 XII 1951; Lamotte et Roy leg.”; LUHM • 1 ♂; “ Guinée, Nimba; XII 56 –V 57; Lamotte, Amiet, Vanderplaetsen; n°52”; MNHN-EP7616 • 1 ♂; “ Guinée, Nimba, Pr. Camp I; 5 avril 57, XII 56–V 57; Lamotte, Amiet, Vanderplaetsen; R. Roy det. 1961”; MNHN-EP7617 • 1 ♂; “ Nimba (Guinée), Mt To (1600m), Camp 1; II. VI. 42; M. Lamotte ”; MNHN-EP7621 • 3 ♀♀; “ Nimba (Guinée); II. VI. 42; M. Lamotte ”; MNHN-EP7618–20 • 1 juv.; “ Nimba (Guinée), Camp I, ravin; IX 56 – XI 56, 23/10/1956; Lamotte”; MNHN-EP7605.
Diagnosis and history
This species, devoid of tergal specialization, was erroneously described in the genus Ischnoptera from a male specimen. It owes its specific epithet to its hindwing veination (Karny 1915). The type specimen was not found in Vienna (NMW); its location is unkown. Princis (1963a) described male, female and nymph specimens from several localities (Table 7). We complement these descriptions with pictures of male, female and juvenile specimens, as well as male genitalia (Figs 22–25). Females are readily distinguished from all other species except R. wittei because of their short wings. The shape of these wings distinguish the two species (Kumar 1975). Males are distinguished by their absence of a tergal specialization, combined with a pair of styli.
Description of male genitalia (Fig. 24)
Genitalia weakly sclerotized overall; left phallomere R complex (L1 of MK64 and R70, and R2+R3+N of G96); cleft between R1T and R2, thin, without protuberance; R3 Y-shaped (sensu Anisyutkin 2016), the base of the Y less sclerotized. Sclerite L2d with its basal sclerite rod-shaped, tapered, thinner and more sclerotized near the apex (L1 of G96); apical sclerite of L2d (L2vm of MK64, L2v of R70 and L1 of G96) quadrangular. Sclerite L3 (R2 of MK64, R70, and L2d of PG96) rather short, with a strong hook; inner margin of the basal part of L3 slightly crenulated. No sclerite ventrally to L3.
Measurements of adults
Male(n= 3): pronotum length×width:2.9–3.3 ×4.1–4.7, tegmina length:13.3–12.6, overall length×width: 12.3–12.5 ×4.7–4.8.
Female (n =3): pronotum length×width: 3.5–3.7×4.7–5.1, tegmina length: 3.5–3.8, overall length×width: 13.4–13.6×6.3–7.
Habitat
Orophilous (Lamotte & Roy 1961b, 1962).
Distribution
This species is only known from the Republic of Guinea (Table 7). Note that an unidentified specimen at MNHN from the surroundings of Kisangani (Congo) could belong to this species.
description: Published as part of Mbia, Donald-L'or Nyame, Ngon, Eric Belmond Biram à, Legendre, Frédéric & Menbohan, Samuel Foto, 2024, Semi-aquatic Epilamprinae cockroaches (Blattodea: Blaberidae) in Cameroon: towards a revision of continental African species of Rhabdoblatta Kirby, 1903 and Africalolampra Roth, 1995, pp. 1-57 in European Journal of Taxonomy 946 (1) on pages 35-38, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.946.2615, http://zenodo.org/record/13177205