| Planispectrum | |
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| Planispectrum hongkongense , female from the Tai Tam stock | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Phasmatodea |
| Superfamily: | Bacilloidea |
| Family: | Heteropterygidae |
| Subfamily: | Dataminae |
| Tribe: | Datamini |
| Genus: | Planispectrum Rehn, J.A.G. & Rehn, J.W.H., 1939 |
| Synonyms | |
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The genus Planispectrum combines very small and compact species from Southeast Asia. [1]
Planispectrum is the smallest genus of the Dataminae. The males of the previously known species reach lengths of 18.5 to 26.4 millimetres (0.73 to 1.04 in), the females are 23.6 to 30.9 millimetres (0.93 to 1.22 in) long. In addition to the small size, the flat body and the very short antennae, which are hardly longer than the femura of the forelegs, are characteristic of the genus. In all species the antennae are shorter than the legs as a whole. The first antenna segment (scapus) is always toothed. Tubercles or teeth can be seen on the top of the head. The pronotum is trapezoidally widened posteriorly. The Metanotum is square. The margins of thorax and abdomen may be serrated. The meta pleura have no spines. The abdominal segments are very short and wide. The ventrally located subgenital plate of the female is blunt and no longer than the dorsaly located operculum. The same is swollen and rounded. It shows a rounded lip at the end. The legs are very short and have no teeth or thorns. [2] [3]
The distribution area of the genus extends from South China and Hong Kong over Vietnam, Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo to Java. The representatives of the genus are extremely difficult to find and live close to the ground, where they usually hide under leaves lying on the ground. Only after heavy rain do they climb into the bushes to avoid the water. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
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| Relationships of the genus Planispectrum within the Dataminae genera examined by genetic analysis so far [8] |
As early as 1906, Josef Redtenbacher described the first two species of the species listed today in Planispectrum in a genus specially established for this with Platymorpha cochinchinensis and Platymorpha bengalensis. [9] Since Platymorpha is a genus of the leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) already described in 1888, James Abram Garfield Rehn and his son John William Holman Rehn described the genus in 1939 new as Planispectrum. In relation to Phasmatodea, Platymorpha is therefore a senior synonym to Planispectrum. As type species they set Planispectrum cochinchinensis . [10] Also the Russian entomologist Boris Uvarov noticed the synonymy of Platymorpha. Unaware of the renaming by Rehn and Rehn, he renamed the genus to Platyphasma in 1940. This name is therefore a junior synonym for the older name Planispectrum. A species also described by Redtenbacher in 1906 as Datames pusillus was transferred to the genus Planispectrum by Oliver Zompro in 2004. Zompro also described three other species. Two of them based on relatively freshly collected material and the third ( Planispectrum javanense ) after examining the type material of Planispectrum bengalensis based on a paralectotype. [3] The last species to be described was Planispectrum hainanensis in 2008, initially in the genus Pylaemenes . It was transferred to Planispectrum by George Ho Wai-Chun in 2013. [11]
Valid species are: [1]
In their work on the radiation and relationships within the Heteropterygidae, which was mainly based on genetic analysis and was published in 2021, Sarah Bank et al also examined a species of this genus with Planispectrum bengalensis. In the subfamily Dataminae, the genus forms a sister group with a clade formed by the genera Pylaemenes and Orestes . [8]
Since 2020, a parthenogenetic stock of Planispectrum hongkongense has been in culture as the first representative of the genus in the terrariums of European enthusiasts. This traces back to a female collected in the Southern District of Hong Kong on November 20, 2019. The stock is referred to as Planispectrum hongkongense 'Tai Tam' after its exact location and is considered easy to keep and breed.
The Heteropterygidae is a family of stick insects belonging to the suborder Euphasmatodea. Species can be found in Australasia, East and Southeast Asia. About 150 valid species have been described.
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.
The genus Orestes combines relatively small and elongated Phasmatodea species from Southeast and East Asia.
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 is the only tribe within the subfamily of the Heteropteryginae. With 19 representatives described, this subfamily includes the fewest species of the three subfamilies, but includes the largest and most striking species of the family.
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.
The genus Dares, which is mainly native to Borneo, combines relatively small and mostly dark-colored Phasmatodea species.
Hoploclonia is the only genus of the tribe Hoplocloniini and brings together relatively small and darkly coloured Phasmatodea species.
Haaniella is a genus of the Phasmatodea family Heteropterygidae from Southeast Asia.
Aretaon is a genus of stick insects native to Borneo and the Philippine island Palawan.
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.
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.
Pylaemenes elenamikhailorum is a species of stick insects native in Sepilok on Borneo. In application of the more recent differentiation between the genera Pylaemenes and Orestes the species is sometimes also called Orestes elenamikhailorum.
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.
Aretaon muscosus is a stick insect species from the family Heteropterygidae, which is native to Borneo.
Hoploclonia cuspidata is a stick insect species native to the north of Borneo and is also called Brunei Hoploclonia stick insect.
Haaniella parva is a species of stick insect from the subfamily Heteropteryginae and belongs to the representatives of the genus Haaniella native to Sumatra. It is their smallest representative.
Pylaemenes sepilokensis is a species of stick insects (Phasmatodea) that is found in Borneo, more precisely in the Malay state of Sabah.
Pylaemenes mitratus is a species of stick insects (Phasmatodea) native to Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. The species is also known by the common name Money Plant Stick Insect, which refers to the most well-known food plants, Epipremnum aureum, which is also known as money plant.
Haaniella echinata is a stick insect species that is native to the entire north of Borneo. After Haaniella scabra, it is the representative of the genus Haaniella that inhabits the highest biotopes on Borneo.
Data related to Planispectrum at Wikispecies
Media related to Planispectrum at Wikimedia Commons