THE MALE GENITALIA OF BLATTARIA. V. 
EPILAMPRA SPP. 
(BLABERIDAE: EPILAMPRINAE). 
By Louis M. Roth 
Pioneering Research Laboratory 
U. S. Army Natick Laboratories 
Natick, Massachusetts 01760 
“The genus Epilampra is one of those assemblages which have de- 
veloped within the tropics of both hemispheres a vast number of 
species, often quite distinct, again closely related and difficult to 
distinguish. With a general type of coloration the fluctuations of 
which make definite and exact characterization difficult, if not at 
times virtually impossible, it combines a uniformity of development 
in numerous other features, that in general in the family are suffi- 
ciently varied to prove of value to the systematic student. To add 
to the uncertainty of a situation difficult at best, we find many of the 
published descriptions almost valueless to aid in the recognition of 
these forms. As a whole the genus is one of the most difficult, ob- 
scure and generally unsatisfactory to study in the entire Blattidae.” 
(Rehn and Hebard, 1927, p. 209). 
Princis (1967) lists 60 species of Epilampra all of which are found 
only in the New World. At least five of these species [atriventris 
(Saussure), cribrosa (Burmeister) , ferruginea (Brunner), proxima 
(Brunner), and verticalis (Burmeister)] have males with tergal 
glands, and their genitalia are so distinctly different from the males 
which lack tergal glands that I (1970) have placed them in the 
genus P oecil oder r his Stal. This study of about 30 of the remaining 
55 species of Epilampra listed by Princis (1967) shows that the male 
genitalia are useful not only for specific determinations of many 
species, but they may also indicate species relationships. 
Materials and Methods 
The technique of preparing slides of genitalia has been described 
in earlier papers (Roth, 1969b, 1970). 
The source of each of the specimens illustrated is given, using the 
following abbreviations: (AMNH) — American Museum of Nat- 
ural History, New York; (ANSP) — Academy of Natural Sciences, 
Philadelphia; (BMNH) = British Museum (Natural History), 
London; (CUZM) = Copenhagen University, Zoological Museum, 
Denmark; (L) = Zoological Institute, Lund, Sweden; (MCZ) = 
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