Species Melanozosteria obscura (Tepper, 1893)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Periplaneta obscura Tepper, J.G.O. 1893. The Blattariae of Australia and Polynesia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 17: 25-126 [published June] [107].

  Type data:

   Lectotype SAMA ♀ adult (number of specimens in original type series not known, although Tepper's range of measurements suggests more than one), NT (as Northern Territory of South Australia).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Mackerras, M.J. 1968. Australian Blattidae (Blattodea). VIII. The Platyzosteria group: subgenus Melanozosteria Stål. Australian Journal of Zoology 16: 237-331 [278].
• Periplaneta scabriuscula Tepper, J.G.O. 1893. The Blattariae of Australia and Polynesia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 17: 25-126 [published June] [108] [top of page].

  Type data:

   Lectotype SAMA ♂ adult, Belair, Mount Lofty Range, SA.
  Paralectotype(s) SAMA ♂ ♀ adults (lists 13 specimens in type series; Mackerras, M.J. 1968. Australian Blattidae (Blattodea). VIII. The Platyzosteria group: subgenus Melanozosteria Stål. Australian Journal of Zoology 16: 237–331 (278) only lists 3 specimens, not including all of Tepper's original series as paralectotypes contrary to Art. 74, ICZN 1985); SAMA 10 adults.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Mackerras, M.J. 1968. Australian Blattidae (Blattodea). VIII. The Platyzosteria group: subgenus Melanozosteria Stål. Australian Journal of Zoology 16: 237-331 [278].
• Periplaneta provisionalis Tepper, J.G.O. 1893. The Blattariae of Australia and Polynesia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 17: 25-126 [published June] [108] [bottom of page].

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA ♀ adult, Mount Bryan East, SA.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Mackerras, M.J. 1968. Australian Blattidae (Blattodea). VIII. The Platyzosteria group: subgenus Melanozosteria Stål. Australian Journal of Zoology 16: 237-331 [278]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victorian Midlands (VM), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Under bark.

Extra Ecological Information

Record from under bark of eucalypts.

General References

Dahms, E. 1972. Type-specimens of cockroaches (Blattodea) in the Queensland Museum. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 16: 273-289 [283] (mislabelled specimen)

Mackerras, M.J. 1968. Australian Blattidae (Blattodea). VIII. The Platyzosteria group: subgenus Melanozosteria Stål. Australian Journal of Zoology 16: 237-331 [278] (redescription, genitalia description)

History of changes