Attaphila flava Gurney, 1937

Bohn, Horst, Nehring, Volker, G., Jonathan Rodriguez & Klass, Klaus-Dieter, 2021, Revision of the genus Attaphila (Blattodea: Blaberoidea), myrmecophiles living in the mushroom gardens of leaf-cutting ants, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 79, pp. 205-280 : 205

4.3. Attaphila flava Gurney, 1937

Figs 3E, F , 5I , 8D , 15C , 25C , 26A

Attaphila flava Gurney, 1937: 106, fig. 9; Princis 1963: 111.

Material studied.

Holotype, 1♂, British Honduras, Belize, Botanic Gardens , 11.VII.1904, P.G.Goll Type No. 52014 U.S. N.M. (abdomen and legs on two slides: Bo 1280) (M. Washington).

Diagnosis.

Male The type specimen of A. flava is very similar to the male of A. fungicola and only shows slight differences in few characters: tegmina with apical border slightly convex, less oblique, surface bristles less strong; hook of left phallomere from the wide sclerotised base more gradually narrowing into a shorter neck, endophallic apodeme near its posterior base less strongly narrowed; and it has a different, though unknown host species.

Description.

Size Length of body (dried): male 2.83 mm. Surface bristles of tergites 2-5 dispersed, not arranged in transversal rows (Fig. 8D ). Transversal ridges tr2-5 without distinct small excurvations to the anterior (Fig. 8D ; compare grey arrows in Fig. 11A ), but male tr2 posteriorly of the specialisations with a wide excurvation to the posterior, mesally followed by a wide, very shallow excurvation to the anterior (grey arrows in Fig. 8D ).

Male Tegmina (Fig. 3E, F ) widest at about 1/2 of length; slightly obtusely wedge-shaped due to the converging course of the basalmost part of the posterior border and the apical border, both connected in a rather wide curvature; posterior border with a slight concavity near the tegmen base, oblique apical border throughout slightly convex; surface bristles fine. Hindwings fairly rhombic, with obtuse apex. Glandular pores on T2-5 (and perhaps T1) in the area between the transversal ridge and the anterior border, dispersed, in moderately high density (Fig. 5I ). Tergite 1 without specialisations (occurrence of long bristles could not be studied for T1; they are present on T2-5). Tergite 2 along anterior border with a pair of specialisations (msl2) consisting of a shallow, narrow transversal trough the bottom of which is patterned by low crossing ridges (Figs 5I , 8D ; very similar to those of A. fungicola ). Tergites 6,7: (Fig. 15C ) Median lobe of T7 very short, but distinct; transversal ridge tr6 well developed, tr7 absent; posterior border of T6 and T7 with a relatively dense row of very short and thin bristles much smaller than those of the respective lateral borders; surface of T6 and T7 only with few isolated and very small bristles, still smaller than those of the posterior borders. Subgenital lobe: (Figs 25C , 26A ) distal part with a deep excavation each along left side and right side; lobe posterior to level of excavations narrowly tongue-shaped and presumably inclined leftward (tip of lobe not retained in specimen); only left stylus present (sll), which is quite conical, inserted at base of left excavation; at the base of the right excavation with a group of short and strong bristles; stylus with few rather long and thin bristles. Phallomeres: (Figs 25C , 26A ) Sclerotised part of hook (h) from the short, wide base (b) gradually narrowing into a slender neck (n; shorter than in A. fungicola ) with a hardly curved proximal part, terminating in a slightly wider claw part (cl). Endophallic apodeme (ea) slightly narrowed at base (forking site of sclerite). Relative to the axis of the endophallic apodeme (ea), the virga (vi) shows a weak, very shallow sinusoidal curvature to the left, its apical part being hardly curved (back into the ea -axis) and gradually narrowed to a rather acute tip, distinctly more acute than in A. paucisetosa ; virga likely longitudinally grooved. Paraprocts: Both lacking a sclerotised projection.

Female Unknown.

Distribution.

Only known from the type locality Belize, Belize City.

Host species.

Unknown, certainly not Atta texana as in A. fungicola since the distribution of this ant species does not reach further south than northeast Mexico. In view of the great similarity of A. flava with A. fungicola , its host is likely an Atta species. It could be Atta cephalotes , the only species of Atta , Acromyrmex , and Amoimyrmex so far reported for Belize (according to https://antwiki.org and https://www.antweb.org, both accessed on 19.i.2021), although Acromyrmex echinatior is known from all neighbouring countries (https://www.antweb.org).

Remarks.

In the description of A. flava Gurney (1937) only noted one difference to A. fungicola , the very short subgenital plate (his fig. 9). But the subgenital plate of the type specimen is damaged and missing its apical part (Figs 25C , arrow in 26A); it might have been of the same length and shape as in A. fungicola (Fig. 26B ). In view of the weak differences between the males of A. flava and A. fungicola one might have doubts whether the type specimen of A. flava really represents a separate species. But as long as neither the corresponding female nor the full shape of the subgenital plate is known, synonymisation with A. fungicola appears unjustified.

Figures

Figure 5. A - I: Tergite specialisations of the males of Attaphila species, medially on T 1 (A - D), or laterally at the anterior border of T 2 (E - I), in E-G from right side of tergite, in H and I from left side. - Species: A, B: A. aptera (Bo 1227, HT Bo 1258); C, D: A. bergi (Bo 1283, Bo 1274); E, F: A. paucisetosa (PT Bo 1254, Bo 1256); G, H: A. fungicola (LT Bo 1265); I: A. flava (HT Bo 1280). - Abbreviations: T 1 - a, T 2 - a anterior borders of tergites T 1,2; T 1 - p posterior border of T 1; tr 1, tr 2 transversal ridges of T 1,2; msa 1 anterior median specialisation of tergite T 1; msl 2 lateral specialisation of tergite T 2; msp 1 posterior median specialisation of tergite T 1; pg pores of glands, tiny in A, B, between T 1 - a and tr 1, larger in E as part of msl 2 specialisations. - J, K: Paraprocts, tergite 10 and cerci in ventral view, of J: A. aptera (Bo 1224) and K: A. paucisetosa (HT Bo 1258). - Abbreviations and arrows: Ca sclerite at mesal base of cercus; ce cercus; hmp hook-like mesal projection of paraproct; PPl, PPr left and right paraproct; T 9 tergite 9; T 10 tergite 10 with its ventrally bent lateral (paratergal) parts T 10 p (larger median parts of T 10 out of focus); white arrows: articulation between mesal end of T 10 p and lateral end of paraproct.

Figure 8. Abdominal tergites and terminalia of Attaphila species. A - C: A. fungicola. A, B: Male (Bo 1229). A: T 2 - 7, T 2 with lateral specialisations; B: Terminalia, ventral view, with T 9 (damaged: only right half) and T 10, cerci, and paraprocts. C: Female (Bo 1264), T 4 - 6. D: A. flava, male (HT Bo 1280), T 2 - 5, T 2 with lateral specialisations. - Abbreviations: ce cercus; ltga 9 lateral tergal apodeme of tergite T 9; msl 2 lateral specialisation of T 2; PPr right paraproct; T n tergite (numbered); T n - a anterior border of tergite (numbered); T n - p posterior border of tergite (numbered); tr n transversal ridge of tergite (numbered). Grey arrows pointing to excurvations of male tr 2.

Figure 11. Abdominal tergites of Attaphila species only known from the female sex. A, B: A. schuppi (ST Bo 1237). A: T 2 - 5; B: T 6,7. C, D: A. sexdentis (HT Bo 1233). C: T 1 - 5; D: T 6,7. - Abbreviations: T n tergite (numbered); T n - a anterior border of tergite (numbered); T n - p posterior border of tergite (numbered); tr n transversal ridge of tergite (numbered). Grey arrows pointing to median and lateral excurvations of transversal ridges to the anterior.

Figure 15. Size and distribution of bristles in the median part of tergites T 6,7 in males (A - E) and in larval males and females (F - L) of Attaphila species, phase contrast images. A: A. bergi, male (Bo 1274). B: A. fungicola, male (LT Bo 1265). C: A. flava, male (HT Bo 1280). D: A. paucisetosa, male (Cb 2 / 1). E: A. paucisetosa, male, with slightly shorter bristles than in preceding specimen (Bo 1445). F: A. aptera, larval male (Bo 1291). G: A. aptera, larval female (Bo 1289). H: A. aptera, larval male (HT Bo 1232). I: A. bergi, larval male (Bo 1230); medium sized bristles belong to T 6, the very long ones are from T 5 covering most of T 6. J: A. bergi, larval female (Bo 1285). K: A. paucisetosa, larval male (Bo 1433). L: A. paucisetosa, larval female (Bo 1293). - Abbreviations: T 5 - p, T 6 - p, T 7 - p posterior borders of tergites T 5, T 6, T 7; tr 6, tr 7 transversal ridges of tergites T 6, T 7.

Figure 25. Subgenital plate (sternite S 9) and phallomeres of males of Attaphila species, dorsal view, anteriorly on top. A, B: A. paucisetosa, subgenital plate with phallomeres (PT Bo 1254, Bo 1444), hook and right phallomere removed in B. C: A. flava, subgenital plate with phallomeres (HT Bo 1280). D, E: A. fungicola. D showing subgenital plate with phallomeres (LT Bo 1265), hook not seen in profile; E showing isolated hook seen in profile (Bo 1229). - Abbreviations: T 9 p ventrally bent lateral (paratergal) part of tergite 9; otherwise as for Fig. 24.

Figure 26. Subgenital plate (sternite S 9) and phallomeres of males of Attaphila species, phase contrast images of the same objects as shown in Fig. 25 A, C, D, anteriorly on top. A: A. flava (HT Bo 1280). B: A. fungicola (LT Bo 1265). C: A. paucisetosa (PT Bo 1254). - Abbreviations: A 1 articulation between S 9 and pt 9; cs cleft sclerite of right phallomere; ea endophallic apodeme; h hook; psa process; pt 9 extension of paratergite 9 contacting sternite 9; R 3 anterior principal sclerite of right phallomere; sll left stylus; sta 9 anterior apodeme of subgenital plate S 9; vf 9 subgenital lobe; vi virga. Arrow: in A indicating that the distal part of the subgenital lobe is broken off.

Figure 3 (A-J). Tegmina (forewings) of males of Attaphila species, dorsal views, left tegmen at the left. - Species: A, B: A. aptera (Bo 1252); C, D: A. bergi (Bo 1443); E, F: A. flava (HT Bo 1280); G, H: A. fungicola (Bo 1229); I, J: A. paucisetosa (Bo 1441). - Abbreviation: fwar forewing articulation area. In A borders specified as addressed in the text.