Description of Cryptocercus clevelandi (Dictyoptera: Cryptocercidae) from the northwestern United States, molecular analysis of bacterial symbionts in its fat body, and notes on biology, distribution, and biogeography

Previously published studies on distribution, gut fauna, glandular secretions, karyotypes, 12S and 16S mitochondrial ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence divergence, and reproductive isolation suggest that at least 2 species have been included in the taxon Cryptocercus punctulatus Scudder. Here we present morphological and biological studies of the insects, including 16S rDNA sequence divergence of their bacterial endosymbionts in the fat body. We conclude that the name C. punctulatus should be restricted to populations from the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Those in southern Washington, Oregon, and northern California in the northwestern United States are a distinct species here assigned to Cryptocercus clevelandi by G. W. Byers. The genus Cryptocercus now consists of 4 species, whose distribution suggests an early Tertiary origin.