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Blaberus "peruvianus"


Zephyr

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I'm certain you'd be hard-pressed to find accurate range maps for either, especially when so little is known about either. If they are geographically isolated, then the very least they should be rewarded is subspecies status. Coincidentally I find this highly unfair since there are all the lovely Gromphadorhina-Princisia species out there based on smaller details like pronotum shape...

Yeah don't get me started on that whole mess, lol. The next addition to my hybrid page is going to be about the "hisser" species and whatnot. The problem is there is almost zero accurate data out there regarding their legitimacy. I don't know how Princisia can even stand as its own Genus...let alone a different holotype within Gromphadorhina. I suppose genetic testing would be the most accurate way to determine this but unless someone is working on their masters in entomology or genetics I doubt anyone would bother. Maybe instead of getting my masters in sculpture I should look into that, haha. :)

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Yeah don't get me started on that whole mess, lol. The next addition to my hybrid page is going to be about the "hisser" species and whatnot. The problem is there is almost zero accurate data out there regarding their legitimacy. I don't know how Princisia can even stand as its own Genus...let alone a different holotype within Gromphadorhina. I suppose genetic testing would be the most accurate way to determine this but unless someone is working on their masters in entomology or genetics I doubt anyone would bother. Maybe instead of getting my masters in sculpture I should look into that, haha. :)

Considerably recently there has been some genetic work on Gromphadorhina-Princisia. However I personally question the exactness of some of the results; From the data gathered it shows that other species like N. cinerea and H. flexivitta are more closely related to each other than H. flexivitta is to Rhyparobia sp., with the latter pairing being classically supported as the actual relationship. The same study places B. craniifer (what strain was used, I don't know) within the atropian Blaberus, as opposed to within the giganteus group as classically asserted by Roth. It is plausible but I'm certain that the rapid adaptation of the various Blaberus lineages poses the same problem as it does with higher invertebrate taxa; this rapid divergence creates "glitches" in the DNA sequences which can be very misleading as to the true relationships between species.

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Considerably recently there has been some genetic work on Gromphadorhina-Princisia. However I personally question the exactness of some of the results; From the data gathered it shows that other species like N. cinerea and H. flexivitta are more closely related to each other than H. flexivitta is to Rhyparobia sp., with the latter pairing being classically supported as the actual relationship. The same study places B. craniifer (what strain was used, I don't know) within the atropian Blaberus, as opposed to within the giganteus group as classically asserted by Roth. It is plausible but I'm certain that the rapid adaptation of the various Blaberus lineages poses the same problem as it does with higher invertebrate taxa; this rapid divergence creates "glitches" in the DNA sequences which can be very misleading as to the true relationships between species.

I feel like genetic testing is worthwhile in denoting genetic heritage but morphological features and species traits make up what a species is, not its genetics. Two completely identical genetic matches could be considered the same species but then one needs to take into account all others surrounding both specimens. One could be twice as large as the other and live in caves while the other lives under rock crags in a dissimilar environment. While genetically the same they are characteristically different animals and could be considered individual species or the same and one a sub-species/breed of the holotype. With "hissers" this task becomes endlessly difficult because they are likely all a sub-species of a cockroach that was established on the island shortly after it was geographically isolated.

This is similar to the Cichlids in Africa evolving into hundreds of species from the same single species of Cichlids that was isolated long ago. Should they all be the same Genus and different species of the same or should they be individuals. "Hissers" have the same issue and until something is actually proven one way or another I feel that they are just sub-species of one another and not dissimilar enough to be in multiple Genus. basically I need both genetic and morphological/characteristic studies to be convinced. :P

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