Male Dimorphism in a New Species of Cockroach Nocticola glenniei sp. nov. (Blattodea: Nocticolidae) Commensal Within Burrows of Macropanesthia rhinoceros Saussure, 1895 (Blattodea: Blaberidae)

Polyphenism, where individuals of the same species exhibit distinct physical or behavioural forms, is widespread across insects. Although well studied in charismatic beetles and eusocial insects such as termites and bees, only a few minor cases of male dimorphism have been reported in non‐termite cockroaches. Here, we describe a new species of nocticolid cockroach, Nocticola glenniei sp. nov. , with an extreme case of male dimorphism. This is the first described Nocticola species containing macropterous males with fully developed tegmina and hind wings, large eyes and dark sclerotisation, and also a brachypterous male morphotype with reduced tegmina and no hind wings, reduced eyes, and light sclerotisation. Most nocticolid species are cave‐dwelling, but some are found in epigean habitats such as rainforests, and a few are inquilines of termite nests. Nocticola glenniei sp. nov. is associated with the burrows of the Giant Burrowing Cockroach Macropanesthia rhinoceros Saussure, 1895 in far north Queensland, representing the first report of a potential inquiline relationship between a nocticolid and another cockroach species. We visualise the male genitalia using X‐ray microtomography (micro‐CT) to allow the first in situ representation of the complex genitalia of this group and compare this to Nocticola australiensis Roth, 1988, the closest described relative. We highlight the possibility that past taxonomic work may be incomplete due to the existence of unsampled male morphotypes, which need to be considered in future taxonomic work.