| Planispectrum hongkongense | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Planispectrum hongkongense, female of stock from Tai Tam | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Phasmatodea |
| Family: | Heteropterygidae |
| Subfamily: | Dataminae |
| Tribe: | Datamini |
| Genus: | Planispectrum |
| Species: | P. hongkongense |
| Binomial name | |
| Planispectrum hongkongense Zompro, 2004 | |
Planispectrum hongkongense is a Phasmatodea species native to Hong Kong, of which only females are known so far. [1] [2]
With length about 30 millimetres (1.2 in), the females of Planispectrum hongkongense are among the larger representatives of the genus. Due to the laterally flattened abdomen, which is significantly wider than the thorax, the species is considered easy to identify. It can be distinguished from the closely related Planispectrum hainanense by the hairless legs, which have their middle and hind femurs only slightly widened fin-like lamellae on the front and rear area. The ones from P. hainanense are clearly fin-like there and with short brownish setae at the legs. The anal segment of P. honkongense is slightly emarginate, that of P. hainanensis is strongly emarginate. The 3.7 millimetres (0.15 in) long head is significantly longer than wide. The supra antennals located there are pointed and connected to the interorbitals by a raised crest. The three pre occipitals become larger towards the rear. The posterior occipitals are prominent. The lateral coronals are clearly visible. The antennae consist of about 20 segments, some of which are indistinctly separated from one another. Of the 30 millimetres (1.2 in) total length, the pronotum accounts for 2.7 millimetres (0.11 in), the mesonotum 5.8 millimetres (0.23 in), the metanotum 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in) and the median segment 1.8 millimetres (0.071 in). The first to fourth abdominal segments increasingly wide. The fourth segment is the widest. The fifth segment has the width of the third. The sixth to tenth segments increasingly narrow. [2] [3]
Oliver Zompro described Planispectrum hongkongense in 2004 together with two other Planispectrum species using a female and an egg taken from this. The female, which like the egg is in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Geneva, was declared the holotype. It was collected on December 2, 1988 by B. Hauser at an altitude of 180 to 380 metres (590 to 1,250 ft) and is from the Tai Mo Shan Country Park. The species name refers to where the specimen was found. In addition to the holotype, another female is mentioned, which was photographed in the collection of the University of Hong Kong without location information. [3] George Ho Wai-Chun examined further eleven females and nine eggs. These were mostly collected by himself between 2006 and 2013 in Southern District (in Aberdeen and Violet Hill) and Tai Po District (in Ma Wo, Tai Po Kau and Ng Tung Chai), Sha Tin District (in Shing Mun), Sai Kung District (in Tsiu Hang) and Islands District (at Tai Tung Shan on Lantau Island). [2]
A parthenogenetic stock of Planispectrum hongkongense has been in breeding in Europe since 2020. it goes back to a female that the Czech Luděk Šulda in the Tai Tam Country Park of Hong Kong took away on November 20, 2019, while he was looking for ants. Arriving in the Czech Republic, he tried to identify the species. After it was initially thought to be a representative of the genus Orestes because of a bad photo, Pavel Potocký identified it in April 2020 using better pictures as a representative of another genus, after which Šulda sent the adult female Potocký. When the female died in July 2020, she had laid about 30 eggs, from which about 25 nymphs hatched, most of which were passed on to different breeders. Using adult females of the first offspring generation, Potocký determined the species 2021 and named the breeding line after the origin as Planispectrum hongkongense 'Tai Tam '.
Planispectrum hongkongense is easy to keep and to breed. The nymphs grow very slowly and, like the imagos too, they feed on leaves of bramble or other Rosaceae.
The genus Orestes combines relatively small and elongated Phasmatodea species from Southeast and East Asia.
Sungaya inexpectata is a species of stick insects and the type species of genus Sungaya. The species name is derived from the Latin as "inexpectatus" and means "unexpected". Its common name is sunny stick insect, derived from the less commonly used sungay stick insect, which in turn refers to the place where the species was found.
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.
The genus Planispectrum combines very small and compact species from Southeast Asia.
Mearnsiana bullosa, occasionally referred to by the common name Manobos stick-insect,is a species of stick insect in the family Heteropterygidae. It is native to the Philippine islands of Mindanao and Leyte. Until 2023 it was the only described representative of the genus Mearnsiana.
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.
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.
Orestes guangxiensis is a representative of the genus Orestes.
Orestes japonicus, a stick insect, is a representative of the genus Orestes.
Orestes subcylindricus is a species of stick insects native to Vietnam.
Dares murudensis is a relatively small species of stick insect. Like most other members of the genus Dares, the species is native to Borneo.
Trachyaretaon carmelae is a species of stick insects. It is one of the largest in the subfamily Obriminae.
Tisamenus serratorius is a stick insect species that occurs on the Philippine island Luzon.
Tisamenus deplanatus is a stick insect species native to the Philippine islands Luzon and Mindanao occurs.
Hainanphasma is a genus of medium-sized, slender Phasmatodea species native to the Chinese island Hainan.
Spinodares is a monotypic stick insect genus endemic to Borneo, containing Spinodares jenningsi as the only valid species.
Trachyaretaon echinatus is the type species of the genus Trachyaretaon in the order of the stick insects.
Tisamenus armadillo is a stick insect species (Phasmatodea) in the family Heteropterygidae, endemic to the Philippines.
Eubulides timog is a stick insect species from the family of the Heteropterygidae. Although only described in 2023, this species, native to the south and east of the Philippine island Luzón, has been kept and bred in the terrariums of enthusiasts since 2009.
Data related to Planispectrum hongkongense at Wikispecies
Media related to Planispectrum hongkongense at Wikimedia Commons