A taxonomic revision of the Panesthiinae of the world. I. The Panesthiinae of Australia (Dictyoptera : Blattaria : Blaberidae)

Abstract

The cockroaches belonging to the subfamily Panesthiinae occur principally in the Indo-Malayan and Australian regions with a few extending into the Palaearctic. In Australia the subfamily is represented by seven genera of which the following four are not found elsewhere: Geoscaplzeus Tepper (two species and two subspecies, one of which is new), Neogeoscapheus, gen. nov. (one new species and one new combination), Parapanesthia, gen. nov. (one new combination), and Macropanesthia Saussure (four species, two of which are new); Hemipanesthia Saussure is synonymized with Macropanesthia. One new species of Ancaudellia Shaw, the only one occurring in Australia, is also found in Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea; Heteroblatta Uvarov is synonymized with Ancaudellia. One unnamed species of Salganea Stål may be restricted to Australia; Mylacrina Kirby is synonymized with Salganea. The Australian forms of Panesthia Serville (nine species, two of which are new, and two subspecies, one of which is new) are essentially endemic; Dicellonotus Butler is synonymized with Panesthia. In Australia the subfamily is largely restricted to the eastern part of the continent. Almost all of the taxa are found in Queensland and they are comparatively poorly represented in the other states.