The cockroach genus Pseudophoraspism has been reported from China for the first time.
Top left: male Pseudophoraspis clavellata. Top right: male Pseudophoraspis recurvata. Bottom: male Pseudophoraspis incurvata. Scale bars = 1cm (Wang Z et al)
Cockroaches are an insect order remarkable in their biodiversity and distribution, with more than 4,500 species known and great geographical reach. Cockroach fossils date back around 400 million years, which testifies to their great adaptability and endurance that puts them among the planet’s great survivors.
A study, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, reports the discovery of three new species named: Pseudophoraspis clavellata, Pseudophoraspis recurvata and Pseudophoraspis incurvata. They belong to the cockroach family Blaberidae, known also as giant cockroaches.
Although the adults of the newly described species can reach a size of around 1.2 inches (3 cm) in length, they are still some of the smallest representatives in the family.
For comparison, the females of the largest species known, Blaberus giganteus, can reach up to 4 inches (10 cm) in length.
The heaviest species, Macropanesthia rhinoceros, also known as the rhinoceros cockroach, reaches only 3.1 inches (8 cm) but can weigh remarkable 35 grams.
All of the known species of the genus Pseudophoraspis, to which the three newly described ones belong, were reported from Southeast Asia and South Asia, with Vietnam considered the north boundary of their territory. Three newly discovered species and a new record of three already known in China’s provinces Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi, however, considerably expands the reach of the genus to the North.
“All of the known species were reported from Southeast Asia and South Asia, and the previously known boundary of this genus would be Vietnam. We found three new species from China, located in Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces respectively, which extends the range of the genus Pseudophoraspis northward,” said lead author Dr Zongqing Wang from the Institute of Entomology, Southwest University, China.
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Bibliographic information: Wang Z, Wu K, Che Y. 2013. New record of the cockroach genus Pseudophoraspis (Blaberidae, Epilamprinae) from China with descriptions of three new species. ZooKeys 273: 1; doi: 10.3897/zookeys.273.4122