Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862

Anisyutkin, Leonid N., 2018, New data on the genus Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862 with the description of P. schwendingeri sp. nov. (Blaberidae: Pycnoscelinae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 125 (1), pp. 79-86 : 80

Genus Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862

Type species: Pycnoscelus obscurus Scudder, 1862 [= P. surinamensis ( Linnaeus, 1758) ], by monotypy.

Remarks: The genus was described as monotypical, on the basis of a single specimen that Scudder (1862) believed to be a male. However, it is evident from the original description that this specimen is actually a larva. Later, P. obscurus was synonymized with P. surinamensis by Princis (1964).

Pycnoscelus surinamensis is a parthenogenetic (thelytokous) species with a worldwide distribution. The closely related P. indicus is a bisexual species distributed in South and South-East Asia ( Roth, 1998). Pycnoscelus indicus is evidently most closely related to P. surinamensis . I previously considered these as parthenogenetic and bisexual forms of a single species ( Anisyutkin, 2002), but meanwhile I changed my view and follow Roth (1967, 1974, 1998) in regarding them as two distinct species: P. indicus and P. surinamensis .

Species included: Those given in Beccaloni (2014) [ P. aurantia Hanitsch, 1935 , P. conferta Walker, 1869 , P. femapterus Roth, 1998 , P. gorochovi Anisyutkin, 2002 , P. indicus ( Fabricius, 1775) , P. janetscheki Bey-Bienko, 1968, P. micropterus Hanitsch, 1931 , P. nigra ( Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865) , P. rothi Anisyutkin, 2002 , P. semivitreus Princis, 1967 , P. striatus ( Kirby, 1903) , P. surinamensis ( Linnaeus, 1758) , P. tenebrigera ( Walker, 1868) and P. vietnamensis Anisyutkin, 2002 ] plus P. schwendingeri sp. nov.