New data on the subfamily Epilamprinae (Dictyoptera, Blaberidae) of the New World, with description of a new genus and a new species from Ecuador

Abstract

Detailed morphological redescriptions of cockroaches of the subfamily Epilamprinae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865 from the New World based on the collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences are given. Poeciloderrhis verticalis (Burmeister, 1838), the type species of the genus Poeciloderrhis Stål, 1874; Phoraspis picta (Drury, 1782), the type species of the genus Phoraspis Serville, 1831; Epilampra mexicana Saussure, 1862 and E. sodalis Walker, 1868, the members of the “mexicana” and “sodalis” species-groups, respectively, are redescribed. Parapoeciloderrhis dilatatus Anisyutkin, gen. et sp. n. is described from Ecuador. The paper pays special attention to the structures of the male and female genitalia. The hypothetical relationships between the taxa studied are briefly considered. The possible synapomorphies of the group [Poeciloderrhis, Epilampra, and Phoraspis] are considered. The genus Epilampra is possibly artificial and needs division into several genera.