Molecular data resolving the systematics of the related Blattellidae genera Symploce, Episymploce, and Blattella (Blattodea: Blaberoidea)

Abstract

Members of the morphologically and ecologically diverse Blattellidae provide a dilemma: their systematic assignment, whether morphologically similar or different, is uncertain. We pay special attention to several taxa: the morphologically similar Episymploce Bey-Bienko, 1950 and Symploce Hebard, 1916, which were strongly disputed because of their extremely similar generic diagnosis in the past century, and one brachypterous species of Blattella Caudell, 1903, which can be easily distinguished from other macropterous members, but is at risk of being misassigned to other genera on the basis of morphological characters. We address the phylogeny of Blattellidae using DNA sequences (mitochondrial 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, COII, nuclear 28S rRNA, histone H3) from a broad sample of taxa. A new genus (Centrocolumna gen. nov.) and four new species (Centrocolumna ericea sp. nov., Symploce nigra sp. nov., Symploce tubercularis sp. nov., Blattella foliolata sp. nov.) are established on the basis of morphological characters combined with the molecular data. The phylogenetic results indicate the relationships ((Episymploce + Blattella) + Centrocolumna gen. nov.) + Symploce. Furthermore, we delimited the taxonomic status of 12 new combinations, which involve Centrocolumna gen. nov., Episymploce, Symploce, and Blattella.