Morphna Shelford 1910
Creators: name: Vršanský, Peter
name: Vidlička, Ľubomír
name: Barna, Peter
name: Bugdaeva, Eugenia
name: Markevich, Valentina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Blattodea
Blaberidae
Morphna

description: Morphna Shelford, 1910
= Morphnina Princis, 1958
Diagnosis (after Shelford 1910): Form rather dorsoventrally flattened. Vertex of head covered or almost covered by pronotum, which is trapezoidal, sub-cucullate and posteriorly produced obtusely. Tegmina and wings fully developed, exceeding the apex of the abdomen. Supra-anal lamina of typical Epilamprine shape. Cerci moderately long. Femora moderately armed with spines beneath. Posterior metatarsus equal in length to succeeding joints; all the joints entirely unarmed beneath, their pulvilli large, pulvillus of metatarsus apical but produced towards the base of the joint.
Type species. Morphna maculata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865).
Composition (updated from Princis 1967, 1971).
Morphna amplipennis (Walker, 1868) (India)
= Epilampra amplipennis Walker, 1868
Morphna auriculata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865) (India) = Epilampra auriculata Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865
Morphna badia (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865) (Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo) = Epilampra badia Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865 = Epilampra ramifera Walker, 1869
Morphna clypeata Anisyutkin & Gorochov, 2001 (Vietnam)
Morphna decolyi (Bolívar, 1897) (India)
= Molytria decolyi Bolívar, 1897
Morphna dotata (Walker, 1869) (Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo) = Epilampra dotata Walker, 1869
Morphna humeralis Bruijning, 1948 (Sumatra)
Morphna imperatoria (Stål, 1877) (Philippines)
= Epilampra imperatoria Stål, 1877
Morphna maculata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865) (Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo) = Epilampra maculata Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865 = Epilampra polyspila Walker, 1868
= Molytria shelfordi Kirby, 1903
Morphna moloch (Rehn, 1904) (Thailand)
= Epilampra moloch Rehn, 1904
Morphna plana (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865) (India, Sri Lanka) = Epilampra plana Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865 = Homalopteryx biplagiata Bolívar, 1897
= Epilampra punctifera Walker, 1868
= Homalopteryx templetoni Kirby, 1903
Morphna pustulata Hanitsch, 1930 (Sumatra)
Morphna sp. (Germany) extinct, Eocene (MES 10188)
Morphna paleo sp. n. (Figs. 1A, 2 C)
Holotype. PIN 5142/12. Right forewing fragment; type locality, Archara-Boguchan, Far East, Russia; type horizon, Tsagayan Formation, Danian Paleocene.
Diagnosis. Forewing with length about 23 mm, width 9 mm. Numerous cross-veins present in M and CuA. Anal intercalaries punctuated.
Description. Forewing without coloration. Venation distinct with apparent intercalaries and rich cross-veins in M and CuA. Subcostal area wide, with Sc richly branched (secondarily). R regular, parallel; M (5) slightly curved, running close to R (apomorphy), fusing to CuA. CuA rich (8). Anal veins simple with punctuated intercalaries.
Remarks. The combination of parallel forewing margins, wide and branched Sc, fusion of M with CuA running close to R, basalmost branches of CuA running parallel to CuP and simple A place this taxon in Morphna.
Morphna has been considered to be a comparatively terminal taxon of Epilamprinae (Rehn 1951). Nevertheless, the new species points to a very initial stage of the evolution of Blaberidae, since compared with Ectobiidae (= Blattellidae) fusion of M with CuA running close to R and wide, branched Sc are apomorphies. In the living fauna, Morphna is restricted to southeast Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines and Thailand). The genus is quite diverse in species and some seem to have little in common (e.g., M. pustulata is elongated, with curved forewing posterior margin). On the other hand, the most closely related living species, M. plana (Brunner von Wattenwyll, 1865) from Sri Lanka, differs only in possessing numerous cross-veins (plesiomorphy) and in size. All the living representatives of the genus are considerably larger than M. paleo sp. n. (apomorphy), with forewing lengths of 41–50 mm.
Two basal branches of R have teratological fusion of veins (see Vršanský 2005: this particular parallel fusion of two ascending R branches is unknown in fossils), but this character is without systematic value. Irregularity between R and M is interpreted as an apomorphy based on the absence of this character in Cretaceous cockroaches.
Etymology. From Greek palaios: ancient or primitive.
description: Published as part of Vršanský, Peter, Vidlička, Ľubomír, Barna, Peter, Bugdaeva, Eugenia & Markevich, Valentina, 2013, Paleocene origin of the cockroach families Blaberidae and Corydiidae: Evidence from Amur River region of Russia, pp. 117-126 in Zootaxa 3635 (2) on pages 119-122, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3635.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/219088