Canarilabis spp.

Bonczek, Vojtěch, Kočárková, Ivona, Jurado-Angulo, Pilar & Kočárek, Petr, 2025, Cryptic diversity in endemic Canarilabis revealed by a multigene phylogeny (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae), Contributions to Zoology 94 (2), pp. 180-206 : 196

Identification of Canarilabis spp.

All four here described species of the genus Canarilabis are very similar (figs. 4, 5) and identification is therefore not easy. Identification characters are found only on males and identification of females collected without simultaneous finding of males is therefore impossible. The only exception is C. alata , which can be easily distinguished from all congeners by the presence of tegmina rudiments in the form of lateral flaps, and females can be identified in this way. Males of C. maxima can be distinguished from males of C. hierrensis sp. nov. and C. canariensis sp. nov. by looking at the lateral sides of the abdominal tergites, on which rugoso-striate structures can be observed. These are present in C. maxima on 7–9 abdominal tergites (fig. 6A), and in C. hierrensis sp. nov. and C. canariensis sp. nov. on 6–9 tergites (fig. 6B). However, in the less developed and smaller males, these structures are not so distinct and it is, therefore, good to compare more specimens. The most difficult identification is between the species C. hierrensis sp. nov. and C. canariensis sp.

nov., which are identical in terms of external cuticular structures, and the characters were only found in the length of the manubrium of the subgenital plate (see the identification key). To confirm the correctness of the identification, we consider it important to examine the male copulatory organs. Differences usable for identification were found in the shape of the parameres (fig. 4). Given the observed variability, the extent of which is not yet known, we recommend using and comparing multiple copulatory organs of individuals from the same population.