Pylaemenes mitratus

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Pylaemenes mitratus
Pylaemenes mitratus.JPG
Pylaemenes mitratus pair from Kota Bharu
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Phasmatodea
Superfamily: Bacilloidea
Family: Heteropterygidae
Subfamily: Dataminae
Genus: Pylaemenes
Species:
P. mitratus
Binomial name
Pylaemenes mitratus
(Redtenbacher, 1906)
Synonyms [1]
  • Datames mitratusRedtenbacher, 1906
  • Datames arietinusRedtenbacher, 1906

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. [1]

Description

The females reach a length of 43 to 48 millimetres (1.7 to 1.9 in). The males are 37 to 43 millimetres (1.5 to 1.7 in) long. The species corresponds in its habitat to typical representatives of the Datamini and is similar in appearance to the Pylaemenes species from Borneo. Both sexes have a greatly enlarged and raised vertex structure on the head, which is formed from the rear head spines and the front edges of which converge towards the back and upwards in the shape of an inverted V. The supraantennas form a pair of laterally compressed spines in front, which are more prominent in males. Characteristic, at least for the females, is a conspicuous white spine on the upper side of the mesofemurs and two more on the metafemurs about a third away from the body. They are also found less prominently and somewhat smaller in males. The males have three pairs of individually differently pronounced pairs of spines on the upper side of their bodies. These are distributed over the pronotum, the posterior edge of the mesonotum and the fifth segment of the abdomen. [2] [3]

Distribution area, way of life and reproduction

The species occurs throughout Malay Peninsula from Perak and Kelantan in the north to Singapore in the south. It is also widespread on Sumatra and has been found, for example, in the provinces of Riau and Sumatra Barat, but also on the offshore Mentawai Islands. [3] [4] [5] The distribution of Pylaemenes mitratus on Sulawesi, as mentioned by Redtenbacher in the species description, [2] is doubted by later authors. [5]

The nocturnal animals hide during the day. At night they feed on Aidia wallichiana , Uruphyllum glabrum (both species of the plant family Rubiaceae), Uncaria gambir , various species of Dracaena , Dioscorea , Calamus (from the formerly genus Daemonorops), Rubus and Curculigo , as well as Dieffenbachia and Epipremnum . [3] [4] The eggs are laid by the females on the ground. [6]

Taxonomy

female of Pylaemenes mitratus, drawing from the original description by Redtenbacher 1906 Pylaemenes mitratus - Redtenbacher 1906.jpg
female of Pylaemenes mitratus, drawing from the original description by Redtenbacher 1906

Redtenbacher described the species in 1906 under the basionym Datames mitratus. He pictures a female and describes both sexes. As a reference, he names specimens from his collection and from the Natural History Museum in Berlin. A female from his collection used for the description can be found in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. It was collected in 1902 by Albert Grubauer in Perak on the Malay Peninsula and later determined to be the lectotype of the species. A female deposited in Berlin is said to have come from northern Celebes (now Sulawesi). It has been established as a paralectotype, but differs somewhat from the Malayan specimens. The male or males described by Redtenbacher have not yet been found. The species name refers to the shape of the forehead and compares it to the mitre, i.e. the headgear worn by bishops (Greek: mitre = μίτρα = "headband"). [1] [2] [5] [6]

In 1906, Redtenbacher described Datames mitratus as well as Datames arietinus, naming collection specimens from the Museum of Genoa (today the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria) and the former Court Museum in Vienna (today the Natural History Museum in Vienna) as a reference. In the latter, their male lectotype and a male paralectotype are deposited, both of which were collected in 1902 by Grubauer on Sumatra. The specimens from the museum in Genoa mentioned by Redtenbacher are a male and a female, which were collected in May or June 1894 by Elio Modigliani on Sumatra. Like another female from the ETH Zurich, they are paralectotypes of the species. Two other females from the collection of Hans Fruhstorfer, collected on Sumatra in 1898 and deposited in Vienna, were initially also considered to be paralectotypes of Datames arietinus. They were recognized in 2018 by Francis Seow-Choen as representatives of an as yet undescribed species and re-described together with a male holotype and other paratypes as Pylaemenes longispinus . [5] The species name of Datames arietinus, like that of Pylaemenes mitratus, refers to the head shape of the animals and compares it with that of a ram or aries (Latin or Italian: ariete = ram). [2]

The lectotypes of Datames arietinus and Datames mitratus were established by Paul D. Brock in 1995. [1] Both species were synonymous with others as early as 1935 by Klaus Günther with Datames oileus [7] (current name Pylaemenes oileus ). In 2000, Seow-Choen revalidated the species Datames mitratus in the genus Pylaemenes as Pylaemenes mitratus after comparing it with representatives of Pylaemenes oileus from Java. [4] The reassignment of the genus had become necessary since Datames had already been synonymized with Pylaemenes in 1998. [8] Datames arietinus, on the other hand, was initially either assigned to Pylaemenes oileus or wrongly also to Pylaemenes coronatus , also referring to Günther 1935. [4] The reassignment of the genus had become necessary since Datames had already been synonymized with Pylaemenes in 1998. [8] [9] In 2018, Seow-Choen referred to the types of Datames arietinus that remained after the description of Pylaemenes longispinus as conspecific to Pylaemenes mitratus. [5] In 2020 he explicitly lists them as their synonym. [10]

In terraristics

Pylaemenes mitratus was collected for terraristics by Seow-Choen from Malay Peninsula in 1999 and sent to Europe. The species received PSG number 212 from the Phasmid Study Group. [6] [11] Another stock of this species was imported from Kota Bharu in 2015. In contrast to most other Datamini, hazel, bramble or other Rosaceae are not suitable as fodder plants in the long term. On the other hand, the species, like its closer relatives from Borneo, can be kept and propagated well with and bred well with Epipremnum, Philodendron or Dieffenbachia species. [12]

Related Research Articles

<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.

<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.

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

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.

<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 coloured Phasmatodea species.

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

Haaniella is a genus of the Phasmatodea family Heteropterygidae from Southeast Asia.

<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>Pylaemenes elenamikhailorum</i> Species of 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.

<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>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 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.

<i>Haaniella gintingi</i> Species of stick insect

Haaniella gintingi is a stick insect species from Sumatra. It is a typical representative of the subfamily Heteropteryginae. The occasionally used common name Ginting’s Haaniella refers to the species name.

<i>Haaniella parva</i> Species of 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.

<i>Pylaemenes sepilokensis</i> Species of stick insect

Pylaemenes sepilokensis is a species of stick insects (Phasmatodea) that is found in Borneo, more precisely in the Malay state of Sabah.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brock, P. D.; Büscher, T. H. & Baker, E. W. Phasmida Species File Online . Version 5.0. (accessdate 31 January 2023)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Redtenbacher, J. (1906). Die Insektenfamilie der Phasmiden. Vol. 1. Phasmidae Areolatae . Verlag Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, pp. 50–51 & plate. I, fig. 12
  3. 1 2 3 Seow-Choen, F. (2000). Illustrated Guide Stick and Leaf Insects Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, Natural History Publikations (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, pp. 39—40 & plate. 102, ISBN 983-812-029-4
  4. 1 2 3 4 Seow-Choen, F. (2017). A Taxonomic Guide to the Stick Insects of Singapore, Natural History Publikations (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, pp. 134—135, ISBN 978-983-812-182-8
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Seow-Choen, F. (2018). A Taxonomic Guide to the Stick Insects of Sumatra Vol. 1, Natural History Publikations (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, pp. 592—601, ISBN 978-983-812-190-3
  6. 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
  7. ↑ Günther, K. (1935). Phasmoiden von den Talaud-Inseln und von der Insel Morotai, mit kritischen Bemerkungen über einzelne Arten und einem zoogeographischen Anhang, Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft der Naturfreunde Freies Berlin, 1935 (1934), Nr. 5, pp. 76–77
  8. 1 2 Hennemann, F. H. (1998). Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Phasmidenfauna von Sulawesi. Mitteilungen des Museums für Naturkunde, Berlin, Zoologische Reihe 74, pp. 125—126
  9. ↑ Zompro, O. (2004). Revision of the genera of the Areolatae, including the status of Timema and Agathemera (Insecta, Phasmatodea), Goecke & Evers, Keltern-Weiler, pp. 225–226, ISBN 978-3-931374-39-6
  10. ↑ Seow-Choen, F. (2020). A Taxonomic Guide to the Stick Insects of Sumatra Vol. 2, Natural History Publikations (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, pp. 305—316, ISBN 978-983-812-198-9
  11. ↑ Phasmid Study Group Culture List
  12. ↑ Pylaemenes at Phasmatodea.com by Conle, O. V.; Hennemann, F. H.; Kneubühler, B. & Valero, P.
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