Overview
World-wide there are 4 subfamilies with 44 genera and about 525 species. The
Lamproblattinae
are principally South American.
Tryonicus
(
Tryonicinae
) occur in Australia (3 spp.), and New Caledonia (Roth 1987a).
Blattinae
(5 Australian spp.) include cosmopolitan, domiciliary pests in
Blatta
,
Periplaneta
and
Neostylopyga
. Many
Polyzosterinae
(14 genera, 201 spp.) have become adapted to extremely harsh climatic conditions. All except
Methana
are flightless, but
Scabina
and
Temnelytra
have short, quadrate tegmina, and some species of
Platyzosteria
have vestigial tegmina.
Polyzosteria
,
Cosmozosteria
, and other genera are apterous (Mackerras 1965a-c, 1966a,b, 1967a,b, 1968a,b).
Description
Anteroventral margin of fore femur usually with many spines, few on posterior margin, mid and hind femora with some spines on both margins; in Tryonicinae, spines on the fore femur reduced in size and number. Wings, when present, with apical triangle; R with numerous branches, often subdivided; CuA with numerous branches running towards apical margin. Male subgenital plate often rectangular, styles symmetrical, slender, cylindrical, widely separated; paraprocts unmodified; sexual tergal gland absent, or present on T1 only where it may be hidden by the hind margin of the metanotum. Female subgenital plate (S7) with posterior part modified to form 2 lobes or valves which are united medially by an extensible membrane and partly separated from the rest of the sternum by a transverse suture. Supra-anal plate of both sexes rectangular, rounded, or triangular; cerci often short or flattened, but may taper and project well beyond the supra-anal plate. At ovulation there are 2 yolk-filled oocytes in each ovariole. The ootheca is held vertically with keel dorsad and is not rotated prior to deposition. The egg cases of the Polyzosteriinae and Blattinae are very similar, with characteristic, serrated keels (Roth 1968b).