Clitarchus rakauwhakanekeneke

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Clitarchus rakauwhakanekeneke
Clitarchus rakauwhakanekeneke (cropped).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Phasmatodea
Family: Phasmatidae
Genus: Clitarchus
Species:
C. rakauwhakanekeneke
Binomial name
Clitarchus rakauwhakanekeneke
Buckley, Myers and Bradler, 2014

Clitarchus rakauwhakanekeneke is a stick insect that belongs the common New Zealand genus Clitarchus . [1] It lives only on the Poor Knights Islands.

Contents

Description

Clitarchus rakauwhakanekeneke is a medium-sized, moderately robust and wingless stick insect with a green to mottled brown and grey body, with some tubercles and spines more commonly on its dorsal side. It has been collected on Metrosideros perforata , põhutakawa ( Metrosideros excelsa ), manuka ( Leptospermum scoparium ), kanuka ( Kunzea spp.), tall mingimingi ( Leucopogon fasciculatus ), Coprosma sp., and some grasses. [2]

This stick insect is restricted to the Poor Knights Islands, some 22 kilometres from the eastern coast of Northland. It has been found on two of the main islands, Tawhiti Rahi and Aorangi. The species was first noted by J. C. Watt, who referred to it in 1982 as Clitarchus aff. hookeri, and considered it to be either a "geographic race" or an endemic species. [2] It was described and formally named by Buckley, Myers, and Bradler in 2014. [2]

Its species name, rakauwhakanekeneke, is Māori for "the stick that moves", and was chosen by the Ngāti Wai people of Northland, guardians of the Poor Knights Islands. [3] The survival of the species seems to be assured by the absence of wasp and mammalian predators and the abundance of host plants on the islands. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phasmatinae</span> Subfamily of stick insects

The Phasmatinae are a subfamily of stick insects in the family Phasmatidae. They contain at least three tribes; Bradley and Galil corrected the spelling to "Phasmatinae" and provides a key to tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acanthoxylini</span> Tribe of stick insects

Acanthoxylini is a tribe of Phasmatodeas. They belong to the "typical" stick insects of the superfamily Anareolatae, though they are rather notable among these. For example, the New Zealand giant stick insect is huge, and all Acanthoxyla are females reproducing by parthenogenesis.

<i>Clitarchus hookeri</i> Species of insect

Clitarchus hookeri, is a stick insect of the family Phasmatidae, endemic to New Zealand. It is possibly New Zealand's most common stick insect. Clitarchus hookeri is often green in appearance, but can also be brown or red. Alongside the prickly stick insect and the Unarmed stick insect, C. hookeri is one of three stick insect species to have become naturalised in Great Britain, with all three having originated in New Zealand.

<i>Clitarchus</i> (phasmid) Genus of stick insects

Clitarchus is a genus of stick insects in the Phasmatidae family and Phasmatinae sub-family. This genus is the most common stick insect in New Zealand. It is found widely throughout the North Island and part of the South Island on kanuka and manuka, as well as various common garden plants.

<i>Acanthoxyla prasina</i> Species of insect

Acanthoxyla prasina, the prickly stick insect, is a stick insect in the order Phasmatodea and the family Phasmatidae. It is native throughout New Zealand, although it is less frequently reported than "common" stick insect species. It has been introduced to Britain, predominantly Cornwall and Devon, and to the south-west region of the Republic of Ireland. It has a thorny skin, which is used as camouflage.

<i>Clitarchus tepaki</i> Species of stick insect

Clitarchus tepaki is a stick insect that belongs to the common New Zealand genus Clitarchus. It is endemic to the North Cape area of New Zealand, in particular Te Paki and the Karikari Peninsula.

Tepakiphasma ngatikuri is a stick insect of the family Phasmatidae, endemic to a single patch of forest near the northernmost tip of the North Island, New Zealand. It was not discovered until 2008, and is the only member of the genus Tepakiphasma.

<i>Spinotectarchus</i> Genus of stick insects

Spinotectarchus acornutus is a species of stick insect endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the family Diapheromeridae, and is the only member of the genus Spinotectarchus. It is commonly referred to as the spiny ridge-backed stick insect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obriminae</span> Family of stick insects

The Obriminae are the most species-rich subfamily of the Phasmatodea family Heteropterygidae native to Southeast Asia. It is divided into two tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Datamini</span> Tribe of stick insects

Datamini is the only tribe within the subfamily of the Dataminae from the order of the Phasmatodea. The representatives of this subfamily are on average not as large as those of the other two subfamilies belonging to the family of Heteropterygidae.

<i>Hoploclonia</i> Tribe of stick insects

Hoploclonia is the only genus of the tribe Hoplocloniini and brings together relatively small and darkly coloured Phasmatodea species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obrimini</span> Tribe of stick insects

The Obrimini are the most species-rich tribe of the Phasmatodea family of the Heteropterygidae native to Southeast Asia.

<i>Mearnsiana</i> Genus of stick insects

Mearnsiana is a genus of stick insects, which is native to the Philippine islands Mindanao, Leyte and Dinagat.

<i>Brasidas</i> (insect) Genus of stick insects

Brasidas is a genus of stick insects that is native to the Philippines and is named after the Spartan general Brasidas

<i>Obrimus</i> (phasmid) Genus of stick insects

Obrimus is a stick insect genus native to the Philippines. It is type genus for the tribe and the subfamily in which it is listed.

<i>Eubulides</i> (insect) Genus of stick insects

Eubulides is a stick insect genus native to the Philippines.

<i>Theramenes</i> (insect) Genus of insects

Theramenes is a genus of medium-sized stick insects in the tribe Obrimini, which is native to the Philippines and to the Indonesian Talaud Islands.

<i>Orestes japonicus</i> Species of stick insect

Orestes japonicus, a stick insect, is a representative of the genus Orestes.

<i>Orestes shirakii</i> Species of stick insect

Orestes shirakii is a species of stick insects native to Taiwan.

References

  1. "Clitarchus Stål". Landcare Research. 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Buckley, Thomas R.; Myers, Shelley S.; Bradler, Sven (2014). "Revision of the stick insect genus Clitarchus Stål (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae): new synonymies and two new species from northern New Zealand". Zootaxa. 3900 (4): 451–482. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3900.4.1. PMID   25543751 via ResearchGate.
  3. Morton, Jamie (6 April 2015). "Meet your newfound neighbours". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

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