Thirty-Nine New Species of Sand Cockroaches Discovered in Southwestern U.S. and Mexico
Posted on February 26, 2014
Thirty-nine new sand cockroach species have been identified in a new study. The species inhabit the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. The study includes a revision of the Corydiidae family of roaches. Male (left) and female (right) members of the genus Arenivaga are pictured above. 39 new species of Arenivaga are described in the study. This genus previously held only nine species.
The study was completed over a four-year period by Heidi Hopkins, a cockroach taxonomic specialist and PhD candidate at the University of New Mexico, Museum of Southwestern Biology, in Albuquerque, NM.
Arenivaga are also known desert or sand cockroaches. Many of the species are subterranean making them difficult to find. Another factor that makes identifying these species complex is that they are sexually dimorphic. This means the males and females of each species look nothing alike. Hopkins suspects there are many more species of Arenivaga yet to be identified.
Hopkins says in a release, "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."
Here is a close-up photograph of male Arenivaga genitalia:
The research was published here in ZooKeys.