Dares ulula

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Dares ulula
Dares ulula Parchen.jpg
Dares ulula, pair
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Phasmatodea
Family: Heteropterygidae
Subfamily: Dataminae
Tribe: Datamini
Genus: Dares
Species:
D. ulula
Binomial name
Dares ulula
(Westwood, 1859)
Synonyms [1]
  • Acanthoderus ululaWestwood, 1859
  • Dares (Dares) calamita Redtenbacher, 1906
  • Dares (Dares) corticinusRedtenbacher, 1906

Dares ulula is a species of stick insects. Like most other members of the genus Dares , the species is native to Borneo, more precisely in the northwest of the island. The males are extremely prickly even for the representatives of the genus Orestes . Females are colored with a relatively high contrast.

Contents

Characteristics

The species shows roughly the typical habitus for the genus. It is one of the largest representatives of the genus Dares. Females grow to be 44 to 51 millimetres (1.7 to 2.0 in) long. They are more contrasting than the females of other species. In addition to areas with different, mostly dark brown tones, there are also areas that are yellowish, orange-brown and black-brown in color. These areas can form wide transverse bands on the abdomen. The tubercles that are on the body surface are more distinct and higher in them than in many other species. Sometimes they are so pronounced that they form small, flap-like lobes or even short, blunt spines. The antennae consist of 25 segments. Their basal segment (scapus) is flat and have clear teeth on the outside. The abdomen is widest in the middle.

The males remain smaller than the females at 35 to 43 millimetres (1.4 to 1.7 in) in length, but are also very contrasting in color. While the head and legs are medium brown, the coloration of the thorax and the abdomen is dominated by dark brown and yellow to orange longitudinal stripes. The spines on the head and thorax correspond in their arrangement to that of Dares verrucosus , but are usually much longer than this. The males have four spines on their heads, at the front edge of the mesonotum and in the rear area of the meso- and metanotum there are a total of three further pairs of spines. To the side of it there is another spine on the pleura. There are no spines on the abdomen. The antennae of the males consist of only 23 segments. Their basal segment is also flat and have clear and relatively pointed teeth on the outside. [2] [3]

Distribution area and way of life

Dares ulula is widespread in the Malay state of Sarawak in the northwest of the island of Borneo. Many previously known origins were destroyed by urbanization and the creation of new plantations.

In their nocturnal way of life and their defensive behavior, this species hardly differs from other Dares species. The defense strategy is based on phytomimesis. When touched, the animals let themselves fall to the ground, where they playing dead for a while. The females lay their eggs on the ground. The eggs are not quite spherical and almost hairless. They are approximately 4.7 to 4.5 millimetres (0.19 to 0.18 in) high and 3.9 millimetres (0.15 in) wide. Their micropylar plate has four arms and the shape of an "X". The arms reach far around the egg. The nymphs are usually very dark in color and show conspicuously bright, mostly yellow-orange patterns around the resulting spines with increasing age or stage of development. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy

John Obadiah Westwood described the species as Acanthoderus ulula in 1859. The specific epithet ulula chosen by him means "owl". The female nymph on which his description is based was collected by D. Wallace in Sarawak. It is deposited as holotype of the species in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. In 1875 Carl Stål transferred the species as a second representative next to Dares validispinus in the genus Dares which he had newly established. Josef Redtenbacher described two species in 1906, both of which in 1935 by Klaus Günther synonymed to Dares ulula. One of these synonyms is Dares calamita. The females to which the description referred were deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest, but are considered destroyed. The second synonym is Dares corticinus. Here Redtenbacher described a very young male nymph, which is deposited as holotype at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. [1] [2] [5] [6] [7]

Terraristic

The first live specimens of this species came to Europe in 1991. Both Philip Edward Bragg and Patrick van der Stigchel and even Ian Abercrombie brought specimens from Mount Serapi that year. Dares ulula was the third Dares species that got into the European terrariums. Since then the species has been introduced several times. It is considered to be delicate to care for, but because of its appearance it is the most sought-after representative of the genus.

Like the other species of the genus, it prefers a higher humidity, which can be achieved by a layer of soil covered with moist moss. Besides leaves of brambles and many other Rosaceae, the leaves of various Betulaceae are also eaten. [3] [4]

The Phasmid Study Group listed Dares ulula under PSG number 117. [8]

Related Research Articles

Heteropterygidae Family of stick insects

The Heteropterygidae is a family of stick insects belonging to the suborder Euphasmatodea. Species can be found in Australasia, East and Southeast Asia. More than 130 valid species are descriebed.

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

Pylaemenes is a genus of stick insects in the family Heteropterygidae and subfamily Dataminae. It combines small to medium-sized, often brightly colored Phasmatodea species. Their representatives are found in large parts of Southeast Asia.

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

The genus Orestes combines relatively small and elongated Phasmatodea species from Southeast and East Asia.

Datamini 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.

Heteropterygini Tribe of stick insects

Heteropterygini is the only tribe within the subfamily of the Heteropteryginae from the order of the Phasmatodea in the family Heteropterygidae. With 19 representatives described, this subfamily represents both the species-poorest and that of the three subfamilies, to which the largest and most striking species are counted.

<i>Epidares</i> Species of stick insect

Epidares nolimetangere, the touch-me-not stick insect, is an insect species from the order of the Phasmatodea and the only representative of the genus Epidares. The species name nolimetangere comes from Latin and means "don't touch me". It refers to the prickly appearance of the animals.

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

The genus Dares, which is mainly native to Borneo, combines relatively small and mostly dark-colored Phasmatodea species.

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

The genus Planispectrum combines very small and compact species from Southeast Asia.

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

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

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

Aretaon is a genus of stick insects native to Borneo and the Philippine island Palawan.

<i>Aretaon asperrimus</i> Species of stick insect

Aretaon asperrimus is a species of insect in the Aretaon genus of the Phasmatodea order. The sometimes used common name thorny stick insect is a bit misleading, since the species does not correspond to the typical stick-like habitus and many other species are thorny as well.

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

Orestes mouhotii is an insect species belonging to the order of Phasmatodea. Because of its synyonym Orestes verruculatus, it is the type species of the genus Orestes. Because of its compact body shape, the species is sometimes referred to as small cigar stick insect.

<i>Dares murudensis</i> Species of stick insect

Dares murudensis is a relatively small species of stick insect. Like most other members of the genus Dares, the species is native to Borneo.

<i>Dares philippinensis</i> Species of stick insect

Dares philippinensis is a species of stick insects. This species is not native to Borneo like most other members of the genus Dares, but to the Philippine island Palawan.

<i>Dares verrucosus</i> Species of stick insect

Dares verrucosus is a species of stick insects. Like most other members of the genus Dares, the species is native to Borneo, more precisely in the north of the island.

<i>Dares validispinus</i> Species of stick insect

Dares validispinus is a species of stick insects. Like most other members of the genus Dares, the species is native to Borneo, more precisely in the northwest of the island.

<i>Aretaon muscosus</i> Species of stick insect

Aretaon muscosus is a stick insect species from the family Heteropterygidae, which is native to Borneo.

<i>Hoploclonia cuspidata</i> Species of stick insect

Hoploclonia cuspidata is a stick insect species native to the north of Borneo and is also called Brunei Hoploclonia stick insect.

<i>Hoploclonia gecko</i> Species of stick insect

Hoploclonia gecko is a relatively small, spiny and darkly colored stick insect species that is native to the northwest of Borneo.

<i>Hoploclonia abercrombiei</i> Species of stick insect

Hoploclonia abercrombiei is a stick insect species known from the northwest of Borneo, more precisely from only one place in the Malay state Sarawak.

References

  1. 1 2 Brock, P. D.; Büscher, T. H. & Baker, E. W. Species File Online . Version 5.0. (accessdate 1 August 2021)
  2. 1 2 3 Bragg, P. E. (2001). Phasmids of Borneo, Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, pp. 126–153, ISBN   983-812-027-8
  3. 1 2 3 Dräger, H. (2012). Gespenstschrecken der Familie Heteropterygidae Kirby, 1896 (Phasmatodea) – ein Überblick über bisher gehaltene Arten, Teil 2: Die Unterfamilie Dataminae Rehn & Rehn, 1839, ZAG Phoenix, Nr. 5 Juni 2012 Jahrgang 3(1), pp. 22–45, ISSN   2190-3476
  4. 1 2 phasmatodea.com by Hennemann, F. H.; Conle, O. V.; Kneubühler, B. & Valero, P.
  5. ↑ Westwood, J. O. (1859). Catalog of the orthopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part I. Phasmidae. London, p. 53 & plate 26 Fig. 1
  6. ↑ Josef Redtenbacher (1906). Die Insektenfamilie der Phasmiden. Vol. 1. Phasmidae Areolatae . Verlag Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, pp. 53–56
  7. ↑ Bragg, P. E. (1998). A revision of the Heteropteryginae (Insecta: Phasmida: Bacillidae) of Borneo, with the description of a new genus and ten new species, Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden 316, pp. pp. 60-64 & 115-122. ISSN   0024-1652, ISBN   90-73239-61-3, Download version
  8. ↑ Phasmid Study Group Culture List
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