Pseudophasma amabile ( Redtenbacher, 1906 ) Chiquetto-Machado & Morales & Cancello, 2022

Chiquetto-Machado, Pedro I., Morales, Adriana C. & Cancello, Eliana M., 2022, Taxonomic revision of Paraphasma Redtenbacher, 1906 (Phasmatodea, Pseudophasmatidae) based on phallic and external morphology, Zootaxa 5122 (1), pp. 1-80 : 71-72

Pseudophasma amabile ( Redtenbacher, 1906) comb. nov.

Fig. 50 .

Paraphasma amabile Redtenbacher, 1906: 115 ; Weidner, 1966: 231; Brock, 1998a: 13; Zompro, 2002a: 181; Zompro, 2004: 159; Otte & Brock, 2005: 251; Delfosse et al., 2019: 189 ; Chiquetto-Machado & Cancello, 2021: 4, 23–24, 26, 36, figs 13C,D, 18D, 20B, 21E, 24E, 25, 26. Lectotype (here designated): ♂, Peru, Marcapata (NHMW) ( Fig. 50A,B ). Paralectotypes (here designated): 1♀, Peru, Marcapata (NHMW) ( Fig. 50C,D ); 2♂, 1♀, Peru, Marcapata (ZMUH); 1♂, 1♀, Bolivia, Yungas de La Paz (ZMUH); 1♂, Bolivia, Yungas de La Paz (MNHN).

Pseudophasma xanthotaenidium Günther, 1930: 563 , fig. 6; Klante, 1960: 90 [= Paraphasma marginale Redtenbacher, 1906 ]. Syn. nov. Holotype: ♂, Peru (MNB). Paratype: ♀, Peru (MNB).

Paraphasma xanthotaenidium, Zompro, 2004: 159 ; Otte & Brock, 2005: 252.

Remarks. The phylogenetic analysis of Paraphasma ( Chiquetto-Machado & Cancello 2021: fig. 25) resulted in the placement of Paraphasma amabile as the sister of Pseudophasma cambridgei Kirby, 1904b in a clade supported by seven synapomorphies. Two of them were exclusive of this clade, i.e. the male subgenital plate with a single lateral projection, on the right side, and the presence of a basal apodeme in the ventral lobe of the phallic organ. The other five synapomorphies, convergently shared with other clades in the tree, were the following: rudimentary ocelli; meso- and metafemur with distinct carinae; distinctly asymmetric vomer; anterior region of the male subgenital plate strongly convex; lateral projection of the male subgenital plate large and conspicuous.

This result strongly indicates that Paraphasma amabile is more closely related to Pseudophasma than to the true representatives of Paraphasma , leading us to propose here the new combination Pseudophasma amabile ( Redtenbacher, 1906) comb. nov. This transfer is also corroborated by the similarity between the phallic organs of P. amabile and P. cambridgei (see Chiquetto-Machado & Cancello 2021: fig. 13A–D) and by the general terminalia morphology of both sexes of P. amabile , which is typical of many representatives of Pseudophasma . It is worth noting, however, that the species-rich and heterogeneous Pseudophasma is probably polyphyletic and in great need of revision ( Chiquetto-Machado 2018; Robertson et al. 2018).

Pseudophasma xanthotaenidium Günther, 1930 was erroneously regarded as a synonym of Paraphasma marginale by Klante (1960) and was later listed as a valid species of Paraphasma by Zompro (2004), who also pointed out that it was probably a synonym of Paraphasma amabile . Comparisons between the types of P. xanthotaenidium and P. amabile confirmed this hypothesis, so this species is here synonymized under Pseudophasma amabile comb. nov.

Additional material examined. PERU. Cusco: 1♂, 1♀, Marcapata ( NHMW) .

Figures

FIGURE 50. Pseudophasma amabile (Redtenbacher, 1906) comb. nov. A, B. Male, lectotype (NHMW), habitus in dorsal (A) and lateral (B) views. C, D. Female, paralectotype (NHMW), habitus in dorsal (C) and lateral (D) views. Scale bar = 10 mm.