A new species of Zoraptera, Zorotypuskomatsui sp. nov. from Cameroon and a redescription of Zorotypusvinsoni Paulian, 1951 (Polyneoptera, Zoraptera)

• Published in: ZooKeys Vol. 1178; pp. 39 - 59
• Main Authors: Matsumura, Yoko, Maruyama, Munetoshi, Ntoni, Nelson N, Beutel, Rolf G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 01-09-2023
• Subjects: Africa; Cameroon; Faunistics & Distribution; Madagascar; Taxonomy; Zoraptera
• ISSN: 1313-2989; 1313-2970
• DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1178.108276

A new species of the order
Zoraptera
,
Zorotypus
komatsui
Matsumura, Maruyama, Ntonifor & Beutel,
sp. nov.
, is described from Cameroon. The female and male morphology of another species,
Z.
vinsoni
, is re-described, and its new distribution in Madagascar is recorded. A particular focus is on the male postabdominal morphology. This is apparently a crucial body region in the very small order with an extreme variation of the genital apparatus but otherwise a very uniform morphology. The male of the newly described species shares rudimentary male genitalia and well-developed postabdominal projections with the distantly related
Spermozoros
impolitus
, apparently a result of parallel evolution. Whether males of
Z.
komatsui
also perform external sperm transfer like
S.
impolitus
remains to be shown. The collecting of the material used for this study suggests that the present knowledge of zorapteran species diversity of the Afrotropical region is very fragmentary.