On the species status of Blattella germanica and Blattella asahinai (Blattodea, Blattellidae), and other morphologically similar species

<i>Blattella germanica</i> (Linnaeus, 1767), a member of the Blattellidae family within the order Blattodea, is a significant global sanitary pest. Several species within the genus <i>Blattella</i> Caudell, 1903 and its closely related genera (<i>Episymploce</i> Bey-Bienko, 1950; <i>Symploce</i> Hebard, 1916; and <i>Jacobsonina</i> Hebard, 1929) exhibit external morphological traits similar to those of <i>B. germanica</i>. By integrating morphological identification and molecular analyses, one new species was identified: <i>Jacobsonina uncata</i> Cai, Yao & Che, <b>sp. nov.</b> Additionally, <i>Blattella asahinai</i> Mizukubo, 1981 was downgraded to a subspecies of <i>B. germanica</i>. The application of molecular data, specifically cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI), has proven to be a straightforward and effective method for distinguishing <i>B. germanica</i> from its morphologically similar relatives.