Overview
Worldwide this is the largest family with about 209 genera and about 1740 species. In Australia there are about 20 genera.
Balta
(the largest genus, with 42 described and many undescribed species),
Ellipsidion
(24 spp.),
Carbrunneria
and
Supella
. (Rentz and Cameron 1983).
Description
Legs long, slender, spiny, ventral surfaces of tarsi spined. Tegmina and wings fully developed or with reduced wings in both sexes, sometimes with small tegmina only. In fully alate forms, hind wings with or without an apical triangle; R usually well developed, with simple, regularly spaced anterior rami; CuA unbranched (simple), or with complete branches only, or with both complete and incomplete rami. Male abdominal terga unspecialised, or with 1 or 2 modified terga used in sexual behaviour. In Australian blattellids, the glands when present usually occur on T1 or T1 and T7, or rarely on T7 and T8, or T3, or T4, or T10 (supra-anal plate). Sometimes the morphology of the gland is diagnostic for a genus (e.g.
Escala
). Male subgenital plate (S9) asymmetrical or symmetrical, usually with 2 styles. Female subgenital plate broad, rounded, rarely bivalvular (e.g. Anaplecta, 3 spp. of which are found in Qld and N.T). Oviparous an d ovoviparous.