PARAMUZOA (NYCTIBORINAE), 
A NEW COCKROACH GENUS 
PREVIOUSLY CONFUSED WITH 
PARASPHAERIA (EPILAMPRINAE)* 
By Louis M. Roth 
Pioneering Research Laboratory 
U.S. Army Natick Laboratories 
Natick, Massachusetts 01760 
Kirby (1904, p. 194) placed Parasphaeria Brunner in the Peri- 
sphaeriinae, probably because Brunner (1865) stated that the genus 
was near Perisphcieria Biirm. Princis (1964) placed the genus in 
the Perisphaeriidae. While studying the male genitalia of genera 
which Princis assigned to the Perisphaeriidae, I found the phallo- 
meres of Parasphaeria ovata (Blanchard) (type of genus, Princis, 
1964, p. 240) to be more typical of the genitalia of genera which 
belong to the Epilamprinae and that Parasphaeria linearis (Serville) 
is not a member of ovoviviparous Parasphaeria , but is an oviparous 
species. 
All ovoviviparous cockroaches belong to one family, the Blaberidae 
(McKittrick, 1964) and the arrangement of their male genital phal- 
lomeres are similar with the hook (R2) always on the right side 
(Fig. 10). The Plectopterinae ( Blattellidae) also have the hook on 
the right, but in the other 4 blattellid subfamilies ( Anaplectinae, 
Blattellinae, Ectobiinae, and Nyctiborinae) , the male genitalia are 
the mirror image of those of the Plectopterinae and Blaberidae, hav- 
ing the retractable hook on the left side (McKittrick, 1964). The 
hooked phallomere (L3) of Parasphaeria linearis (Fig. 9) is on the 
left and the phallomere L2d clearly shows a close relationship to 
members of the Nyctiborinae, in which subfamily I place this species. 
In this paper, I shall redescribe Parasphaeria ovata , and erect a 
new genus for Parasphaeria linearis, in part from specimens used by 
Brunner (1865) when he described the genus. I have examined 
the S and 9 types of Blatta ovata Blanchard, and Brunner was 
correct in his determination of his specimens of this species. Complete 
synonyms for these 2 species can be found in Princis (1964). 
Paramuzoa, n. gen. 
Type species: Blatta linearis Serville (present designation) 
Paramuzoa appears to be close to Muzoa Hebard, having sym- 
*Manuscript received by the editor October 2, 1973 
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