Denhama Werner, 1912

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 : 6

Denhama Werner, 1912

Type species. Denhama aussa Werner, 1912: 53 , by monotypy.

Characteristics of the genus

Remarkably elongate wingless, small to large phasmids (several species awaiting description), body smooth or ridged, plain or with a bold longitudinal black stripe running the length of the body. Males could not conceivably be any slenderer. Head elongate. Pronotum little more than half length of head. Mesonotum very elongate, typically eight to nine times length of pronotum. Metanotum much shorter. Antennae long, considerably exceeding length of fore femora. Legs unarmed, long, hind legs easily exceeding end of anal segment. Operculum exceeding 9th abdominal segment (male subgenital plate similar). Supraanal plate rather weakly formed, often a long ‘extension’ ending in a rounded or almost truncate tip. End of anal segment in males usually excised in centre. Cerci short, in both sexes, often concealed.

Egg. Remarkably long, thin cigar-shaped, simple capsule, glued to suitable surfaces. Micropylar plate elongate, from rim to base.

Notes: no other known Australian genera have such long, slender bodies, this distinguishes them at a glance from the related, small, more robust Hyrtacus spp , in which females have a beak-like end of abdomen, unlike the flimsy structure in Denhama , which can easily drop off dead material.

Species included

D. aussa Werner, 1912 , D. austrocarinata ( Otte & Brock, 2005) comb. n. (= Marcenia carinata Sjöstedt, 1918 , = Hyrtacus cylindricus Sjöstedt, 1918 ), D. eutrachelia ( Westwood, 1859) stat. rev. (removed from synonymy with Bacteria coenosa Gray, 1833 ), D. gracilis Sjöstedt, 1918 comb. n., D. longiceps ( Brunner, 1907) comb. n. (= Hyrtacus imitans Brunner, 1907 ), D. striata ( Sjöstedt, 1918) comb. n.

Notes

These insects are mainly found in drier parts of Australia, amongst herbaceous vegetation and grasses, on or near the ground.