Cornicandovia Hasenpusch & Brock, 2007

Brock, Paul D. & Hasenpusch, Jack, 2007, Studies on the Australian stick insects (Phasmida), including a checklist of species and bibliography, Zootaxa 1570 (1), pp. 1-81 : 13

Cornicandovia Hasenpusch & Brock , gen. nov.

Type species. Parasosibia australica Redtenbacher, 1908: 482 , here designated.

Characteristics of the genus

Elongate small, green, wingless phasmid, body length c. 56 mm in female (male not yet known).

Body mainly smooth, key feature is the double-horned head. Head slightly longer than wide, at posterior armed with two large conical horns, pointing forwards. Pronotum smooth, same length as head. Mesonotum sparsely and irregularly granulated, four times length of pronotum. Metanotum considerably shorter. Antennae long, probably exceeding length of fore legs (tip broken). Legs unarmed, moderately long, hind legs short of anal segment. Abdomen with carina present. 8 th abdominal segment half length of 7 th, 9 th considerably shorter than 8 th, but about same length as anal segment, whose tip is rounded, incised in centre. Operculum long, carina present, tapered to rounded tip, reaching end of 9th abdominal segment. Cerci short, fairly broad, tapering to rounded tip.

Notes: no other known Australian (or world) Necrosciinae have the double-horned head. Other representatives of Parasosibia Redtenbacher, 1908 (all from India), have spined heads. This genus is one of several non-winged Necrosciinae . Vickery (1983: 9) stated ‘This species should be placed in a new genus, near Chondrostethus Kirby’, which belongs to the Lonchodinae . However, we agree with Redtenbacher, in that it belongs to the Necrosciinae .

Species included C. australica ( Redtenbacher, 1908) comb. n. (transferred from Parasosibia Redtenbacher, 1908 ).

Derivation of name Horned ‘Candovia’, due to a general similarity with Candovia species.