On some species of African Ctenolepismatinae Escherich, 1905(Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) preserved in the entomologicalcollection of the Museum für Naturkunde der HumboldtUniversität (Berlin)

Abstract

Specimens of insects belonging to the subfamily Ctenolepismatinae (order Zygentoma, family Lepismatidae), most of them previously included in the genus Ctenolepisma, preserved in the entomological collection of the Museum of Natural History (Museum für Naturkunde Der Humboldt Universität) in Berlin (Germany) have been studied for continuing with the revision of the genus Ctenolepisma and related taxa. The species Ctenolepisma erythraeum sp. nov. is described on the basis of specimens collected in Eritrea and labelled probably by Escherich as a new species but never described until now. The description of two species from Madagascar established by Escherich (1910), Ctenolepisma howa and Ctenolepisma madagascariense, is updated on the basis of type material belonging to both species, concluding that the first one belongs to the genus Sceletolepisma (formerly considered as a subgenus of Ctenolepisma), so the current name for this species is Sceletolepisma howa n. comb. Some characters of both species are corrected respect to their original description and some new characters are provided, using in some cases scanning electronic microscopy, in spite of the not very good condition of specimens preserved during more than a century. Some descriptive remarks are also included in this work regarding other species of Ctenolepismatinae: Sceletolepisma corvinum, Sceletolepisma parcespinatum, Sceletolepisma terebrans and Psammolepisma schultzei.