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Three new troglobitic cockroaches described

1st May 2017

Trotter McRae Bennelongia Environmental Consultants Nocticola Subterranean Fauna Troglofauna

Bennelongia’s resident taxonomic powerhouse Jane McRae, former Bennelongia principle scientist Dr Andrew Trotter and senior ecologist Dean Main and geneticist Dr Terrie Finston have co-authored a paper describing three new species of troglobitic cockroach of the genus Nocticola from the Pilbara. Troglobitic cockroaches in WA are understudied, with only a handful of cave species having been described. They exhibit morphological adaptations typical of most troglofaunal animals (loss of wings and eyes, depigmentation, elongate sensory appendages). This is a big step forward for cockroaches in WA, documenting the varying troglomorphies of this understudied group. Here are the figures from the paper:

The next step of this project will be the descriptions of troglofaunal cockroaches from the Kimberley, WA. If you’ve completed a troglofauna survey and have some cockroaches that might be troglofaunal please send them our way, we’d be very interested to continue working on this group.

http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4250.2.2/0

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