Shining Cockroach
S9, Female, Shining
Ellura
Shining Cockroach
S14, Female, Eye
 
                      
Shining Cockroach (Drymaplaneta communis)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Cockroaches (Blattodea)
Family: Cockroach (Blattidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Shining Cockroach (Drymaplaneta communis)
This Photo:     🔍S14, Female, Cerci🔎

Thank you Matthew Connors for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills and elsewhere
Females ~13 to ~26mm long, smaller than Males at ~27mm to ~32mm.
From the iNat link you'll find Matthew Connors gives a great description of the difference between some Drymaplaneta sp. and this species.
On there he shows how the back legs of males are important to separate the species (normal legs for D. communis, very wide rear legs for D. semivitta).
We have only found Drymaplaneta communis males, but it's possible the females may be D. semivitta (regionally introduced from WA).
S14 is notable in that the white band follows all the way round the edge and joins at the rear end. This possibly indicates she's a different species. Of S14, Matthew said "Yes I think tentatively these are D. communis. I have not heard of or seen any D. semivitta with white on the abdomen"

Copyright © 2023-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 14-Mar-2023
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.