Protagonista lugubris, a cockroach species new to China and its contribution to the revision of genus Protagonista, with notes on the taxonomy of Archiblattinae (Blattodea, Blattidae)

By

Wang, Chenchen
Wang, Zongqing
Che, Yanli

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

574

Pages

57-73

Subjects

Eroblatta , new record , Planeticinae , synonym , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.574.7111

 

Abstract

The blattid genus Protagonista Shelford, 1908, which is tentatively assigned to the subfamily Archiblattinae (= Planeticinae), is reported from China for the first time with illustrations and description of P. lugubris Shelford, 1908. It is a wood-dwelling and potentially a wood-feeding species. The male and female genitalia of Protagonista are described and illustrated for the first time. The species Protagonista pertristis Hanitsch, 1923 is revived from the synonymy of P. lugubris, and the remaining three nominal species that were also considered as synonyms of P. lugubris are now recognized as synonyms of P. pertristis. In agreement with Princis (1965), we propose that Eroblatta Shelford, 1910, a genus closely related to Protagonista, should be placed in the subfamily Archiblattinae rather than Blattinae. However, the taxonomy of Archiblattinae is problematic and awaits revision. Photos and a key to species of Protagonista and Eroblatta are provided, including photos of the holotypes of the synonymized nominal species. In addition, although Planeticinae is the senior synonym of Archiblattinae, the priority of the latter should be maintained since it is in prevailing usage based on the Article 40.2 in ICZN 4th edition.