Neostylopyga | |
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Neostylopyga ornata, a typical member of the genus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Blattodea |
Family: | Blattidae |
Subfamily: | Blattinae |
Genus: |
Neostylopyga Shelford, 1911 |
Species | |
See text |
Neostylopyga is a genus of cockroaches described by Robert Walter Campbell Shelford in 1911. [1]
The type species of the genus is Neostylopyga rhombifolia (Stoll, 1813), but at first it was assigned to the genus Blatta and subsequently to other genera, including Periplaneta, to which it is closely related. [2] [3]
Species records (probably incomplete) are from Africa, southern Asia and Australia; the Cockroach Species File [2] lists:
Note: Neostylopyga laosana Anisyutkin, 2010 [3] and other species may now be placed in the genus Macrostylopyga: or elsewhere in the Blattinae. These include species which are strikingly coloured and patterned and are popular in cultures under the common name harlequin roaches or harlequin cockroaches.
Neostylopyga is related to invasive pest species such as Periplaneta americana, and like the major pest species, some members of the genus, such as Neostylopyga rhombifolia, the "harlequin cockroach", have spread to so many regions as to be regarded with suspicion at least. [4] In some countries, it already is seen as a largely outdoor domestic pest. [5] Certainly none of the species is widely seen as one of the major pest roaches yet.