Paraphasma fasciatum, (GRAY, 1835)

Chiquetto-Machado, Pedro I. & Cancello, Eliana M., 2021, Cladistic analysis of Paraphasma (Phasmatodea: Pseudophasmatidae) highlights the importance of the phallic organ for phasmid systematics, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 193 : -

PARAPHASMA FASCIATUM ( GRAY, 1835)

Phasma fasciatum Gray, 1835: 24 . – Burmeister, 1838: 585. – De Haan, 1842: 123. – Westwood, 1859: 120.

Olcyphides fasciatus – Kirby, 1904a: 410. – Rehn, 1906: 278. – Rehn, 1907: 165.

Paraphasma fasciatum – Redtenbacher, 1906: 116. – Giglio-Tos, 1910: 10. – Passerin d’Entrèves, 1981: 55. – Zompro, 2004: 159. – Otte & Brock, 2005: 251. – Conle et al., 2020: 126.

Remarks: The type material of Paraphasma fasciatum is probably lost (O. Conle, personal communication; Brock et al., 2020). Its vague type locality ‘Brazil’ and brief original description, based solely on colour features, are equally applicable to most species of Paraphasma . Several specimens (not type material) from diverse localities (e.g. Paraguay, Guyana, the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro) were identified as P. fasciatum by authors such as Redtenbacher (1906), Rehn (1906, 1907) and Giglio-Tos (1910). Furthermore, the NHMW material identified by Brunner von Wattenwyl and Redtenbacher as P. fasciatum is clearly composed of more than one species. In conclusion, the identity of this species can only be clarified if the type is found, so Paraphasma fasciatum is here considered a nomen dubium and as such could not be included in the phylogenetic analysis.