This image shows sexual dimorphism in Arenivaga; adult male on left, adult female on right.
Credit: Heidi Hopkins; CC-BY 4.0
A genus of cockroach in the poorly studied family Corydiidae has been
revised for the first time since 1920. The revision has resulted in the
discovery and description of 39 new species of Arenivaga, a
genus which previously held nine species. The Corydiidae family of
roaches is found worldwide and its constituents are frequently found in
harsh, dry habitats not usually associated with cockroaches. They are
also often subterranean in their habits making their presence easily
overlooked.
The study was completed over a four-year period by Heidi Hopkins, who
is a cockroach taxonomic specialist and PhD candidate at the University
of New Mexico, Museum of Southwestern Biology, in Albuquerque, NM. Her
results have been published in the open access journal ZooKeys.
'The
extent of the radiation of this genus is quite surprising', said
Hopkins. 'These animals have remarkable adaptations that allow them to
succeed in some of the harshest places on earth. I suspect that the
thorough application of modern collection methods would reveal many more
species of Arenivaga across Mexico, and many more species of Corydiidae in the deserts and dry places of the rest of the world.'
Arenivaga, also known as desert or sand cockroaches, are
dramatically sexually dimorphic, meaning that the females look nothing
like the males. This makes the association of female specimens of a
species with male specimens of the same species very difficult. Hopkins'
work is based on male specimens only, and species are separated from
one another by characters of the genitalia, which are incredibly
complex.'The order Blattodea (cockroaches) which includes termites, comprise some of the earth's greatest decomposers. They are the planet's recyclers and clearly they have a role to play even in terrain with very little plant matter requiring decomposition. We can no longer think of cockroaches as creatures restricted to the moisture of the tropics.'
Hopkins has great admiration and passion for cockroaches. She will continue her work by beginning a revision of the poorly understood family Corydiidae during her post doc at Rutgers University in Newark, NJ.
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