4 THE BLATTIDAE OF PANAMA 



sidered or wholly overlooked in the past. We feel certain that the 

 difficulty in studying so large and complex a family will be greatly 

 lessened if they are properly considered in future work. 



We would note the following features for the genera studied, or 

 compared, in the preparation of the present paper. 



Dorsal surface of male abdomen specialized in Ceratinoptera, 

 Dettdroblatta, Eiidromiella, Latiblattella, A ntitheton, Rhytidometopum, 

 Supella, the Nahua Group of Neohlattella, Blattella, Ischnoptera, 

 Xestoblatta, Parcoblatta, Euphyllodromia, Pseiidophyllodromia 

 (Pseudomopinae) ; Chorisoneura [weakly] and Plectoptera [weakly] 

 (Oxyhaloinae). 



Female subgenital plate valvular in Anaplecta (Ectobiinae) ; 

 all known genera of the Blattinae; Holocompsa, Hypercompsa, 

 Latindia, Compsodes, Melestora and Buboblatta (Corydiinae) : 

 with a medio-longitudinal cleft distad in Lissoblatta (Ectobiinae) ; 

 Euphyllodromia [strongly] (Pseudomopinae), and Chorisoneura 

 (Oxyhaloinae). 



Tarsal claws asymmetrical in Ectobius, Eutheganopteryx, Phyllo- 

 dromica, Lissoblatta (Ectobiinae); Latiblattella, Antitheton (Pseudo- 

 mopinae); all genera except Megaloblatta of the Nyctiborinae, 

 and Chorisoneura (Oxyhaloinae) : specialized in Chorisoblatta (Ecto- 

 biinae) ; Neoblattella, Cariblatta, Lophojnetopum (Pseudomopinae), 

 and Plectoptera (Oxyhaloinae). 



We feel more than ever satisfied that it will be impossible to 

 separate the subfamilies of the Blattidae by a few definite and 

 readily discernible features. We have found a valvular female 

 subgenital plate in several subfamilies besides the Blattinae, 

 though this was supposed to be characteristic of that subfamily. 

 The tarsal claws are asymmetrical in all the genera of the Nycti- 

 borinae except Megaloblatta, but this feature appears in a number 

 of genera clearly belonging to other subfamilies. The hooded 

 pronotum, characteristic of almost all forms of the Perisphaerinae, 

 is very weakly indicated, particularly in the male sex, in Colap- 

 teroblatta, a genus belonging to that subfamily, though we feel no 

 doubt as to the proper assignment of this genus. The ulnar vein 

 without branches, once supposed to separate definitely all of the 

 Ectobiinae, was correctly determined by Shelford to have excep- 

 tions in that subfamily and to be a feature occasionally met with 



