Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906

Conle, Oskar V., Hennemann, Frank H. & Perez-Gelabert, Daniel E., 2008, Studies on neotropical Phasmatodea II: Revision of the genus Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906, with the descriptions of seven new species (Phasmatodea: Pseudophasmatidae: Pseudophasmatinae), Zootaxa 1748 (1), pp. 1-64 : 5-10

Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906

Type-species: Malacomorpha androsensis Rehn, 1906: 113 , fig. 2, by original designation of Rehn, 1906: 114.

Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906: 113 , fig. 2.

Bradley & Galil, 1977: 203 (in part). [Listed as a synonym of Anisomorpha Gray - in error]

Bragg, 2001: 636.

Conle & Hennemann, 2002: 46.

Zompro, 2004: 147, figs. 85a, b & 9: 3, 4. [´ Pseudophasmatinae : Anisomorphini ]

Otte & Brock, 2005: 189.

Agathemera, Kirby, 1904: 402 (in part).

Alloeophasma Redtenbacher 1906: 126 . [Type-species: Anophelepis poeyi Saussure, 1868: 67 , by monotypy] n. syn. Bradley & Galil, 1977: 203. [Listed as a synonym of Anisomorpha Gray - in error]

Bragg, 2001: 628.

Conle & Hennemann, 2002: 17.

Zompro, 2004: 142, figs. 81a & b. [´ Pseudophasmatinae : Pseudophasmatini ]

Otte & Brock, 2005: 43.

Anisomorpha, Redtenbacher, 1906: 90 (in part).

Bolivar, 1888: 141.

Caudell, 1909: 111. [Referring to Phasma graveolens King, 1867 ]

Wolcott 1936: 35.

Bradley & Galil, 1977: 203 (in part).

Vanschuytbroeck & Cools, 1981: 25 (in part).

Langlois & Lelong, 1996: 20, 22, 23 (in part).

Perez-Gelabert, 2001: 27.

Anophelepis, Saussure, 1868: 67 (in part – not Westwood, 1859).

Saussure, 1870: 171, pl. 4: 18 & 18a.

Stål, 1875: 56.

Necroscia, Westwood, 1859: 155 , pl. 13: 2 & 14: 5 (in part).

Olcyphides, Redtenbacher, 1906: 108 (in part—not Griffini, 1899).

Bradley & Galil, 1977: 203.

Langlois & Lelong, 1996: 22.

Phasma, Burmeister, 1838: 585 (in part).

De Haan, 1842: 123 (in part).

Westwood, 1859: 123 (in part).

King, 1867: 78.

Saussure, 1868: 69 (in part).

Saussure, 1870: 195, pl. 4: 23 (in part).

Bolivar, 1888: 141.

Redtenbacher, 1906: 127. [ Phasma cyllarus Westwood listed as “species incertae sedis”]

Pseudolcyphides Karny, 1923: 234 . [Type-species: Phasma spinicollis Burmeister, 1838: 585 , by original designation] n. syn.

Bradley & Galil, 1977: 203.

Bragg, 2001: 642.

Conle & Hennemann, 2002: 102.

Zompro, 2004: 142, figs. 80a, b & 8: 14. [´ Pseudophasmatinae : Pseudophasmatini ]

Otte & Brock, 2005: 287 (in part).

Pseudophasma, Kirby 1904: 411 (in part).

Description: ♀♀, ♂♂: Small to moderately sized Anisomorphini (body length ♀♀ 33.5–70.0 mm, ♂♂ 21.0– 42.0 mm), apterous, brachypterous or with fully developed alae, body slender to robust. Body surface either almost smooth, sparsely granulose or slightly rugulose; dull to partly shiny. Often with dorso-lateral longitudinal rows of granules or spiniform tubercles on mesonotum. Basic colour of body pale to dark brown overlaid with ± distinct dark and pale broken lines, patches or speckles. Dorsal surface of head and body often with a dark dorsomedian longitudinal line, usually becoming increasingly indistinct on abdomen. Legs pale to dark brown and in most species to a various degree furnished with drab or yellowish speckles and patches. Head short and broad, at best 1.3x longer than wide, oval in cross-section and flattened dorsally. Vertex smooth, rarely bearing a few minute granules; flat to very gently rounded. Eyes prominent and projecting hemispherically; their length contained at best 3x in that of cheeks. Ocelli strongly reduced and rudimentary in apterous taxa, fully developed in pterous taxa. Antennae long and filiform, about as long as body and reaching to or projecting over apex of abdomen. All antennomeres except scapus cylindrical and finely bristled. Scapus oval in cross-section, indistinctly longer than wide. 3 rd segment at least as long as scapus, often longer and may be as long as scapus and pedicellus combined. Mesonotum of variable length, 1.1–2.5x longer than pronotum and 1.1–3.0x longer than wide. Mesosternum in most species with a ± decided longitudinal median carina or keel; otherwise smooth. Tegmina and alae absent, vestigial or alae fully developed; may be as long as distinctly projecting over apex of abdomen. Wings may be unequal between the sexes of certain species, with ♀♀ brachypterous and ♂♂ pterous. Tegmina small, scale-like and with central portion ± roundly or conically raised; at best covering bases of alae or anterior portion of metanotum. Anal region of alae translucent to transparent pale brown with brown veins. Median segment slightly shorter or longer than metanotum. Abdomen 1.1–2.5 x longer than head and thorax combined, cylindrical. Surface smooth and sometimes shiny, certain species with a ± prominent posteromedian tubercle or hump on tergites II–IX. Tergites II–VII smooth and shiny in species with well developed alae. Cerci small, short, round in cross-section, slightly incurving, and gradually constricted towards the apex; finely bristled. Abdomen of ♀♀ very gently tapered towards the apex; occasionally slightly swollen medially. Subgenital plate of ♀♀ small to moderately sized, scoop-shaped and pointed apically; length ranging from just not reaching anterior margin to slightly projecting over posterior margin of anal segment. Poculum of ♂♂ small and flat, scoop-shaped and posterior margin with a ± distinct median indentation; hardly projecting over posterior margin of tergite IX. Vomer well developed and sclerotised, triangular to parallel-sided with outer margin swollen; apex rounded and simple (serrate in one species). Legs moderately slender to rather robust, all ± decidedly carinated, destitute of spines or teeth, minutely bristled and quadrate in cross-section. Medioventral carina of femora distinct. Profemora 1.2–2.5x longer than mesothorax. Hind legs hardly reaching to, or considerably projecting over apex of abdomen. Profemora compressed and curved basally to a variable degree; may be very shallow in certain species. Basitarsus 2.0–3.0x longer than second tarsomere; simple.

Eggs: Small to medium-sized. Capsule barrel-shaped, distinctly longer than wide, ± decidedly compressed laterally and oval in cross-section. Surface strongly sculptured; all over covered with granules, rough tubercles, humps, ridges or slightly raised net-like structures. Micropylar plate small, circular to elongateoval, at best 2.2x longer than wide and covering distinctly less than 1/3 of capsule length. Median line distinct and of variable length, being either very short or almost reaching the polar-area. Internally the plate is open with a distinct median line. Operculum oval and flat to slightly convex with the surface granulated or tuberculose, occasionally with a small hump in the centre.

Differentiation: Closely related to Anisomorpha Gray, 1835 but distinguished by: the shorter and broader head (at best 1.3x longer than wide); relatively larger eyes; more slender and relatively shorter antennae; less shiny body surface and longer basitarsus which is at least 2x longer than the 2 nd tarsomere.

Comments: The description of Malacomorpha hispaniola n. sp., M. multipunctata n. sp. and availability of adult specimens of Malacomorpha longipennis ( Redtenbacher, 1906) from ANSP show the characters used to distinguish Pseudolcyphides Karny, 1923 and Alloeophasma Redtenbacher, 1906 from Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906 in former studies on Pseudophasmatinae , to remain no longer valid.

The Cuban M. longipennis shows an apparently similar spination of the mesonotum and has the same smooth and shiny dorsal surface of the abdomen as Pseudolcyphides spinicollis ( Burmeister, 1838) , the genotype of Pseudolcyphides . The profemora of P. spinicollis (Burmeister) are indeed a little less distinctly curved basally than in the majority of Malacomorpha -species but it is also true for M. multipunctata n. sp., a fairly typical apterous representative of the genus. Therefore, this feature can be regarded as nothing but intrageneric variation, which places Pseudolcyphides as a junior synonym of Malacomorpha (n. syn.). Conle & Hennemann (2002) distinguished Alloeophasma from Malacomorpha by the smooth abdominal tergites and relatively longer mesothorax. The unarmed abdominal tergites are also true for several of the here newly described apterous species of Malacomorpha , e.g. M. sanchezi n. sp. or M. multipunctata n. sp., and the three species contained which have fully developed alae in both sexes. The mesothorax of A. poeyi ( Saussure, 1868) , the type-species of Alloeophasma , is just a little longer than in other species of Malacomorpha and can be regarded as lying within the range of the genus. Although A. poeyi appears rather slender, detailed compar- ison with all other species contained in Malacomorpha , leave no characters that sufficiently serve to distinguish it on the generic level. Consequently, Alloeophasma is here synonymised with Malacomorpha (n. syn.).

The classification of Pseudophasmatinae and allotment of the genera amongst the tribes Anisomorphini and Pseudophasmatini proposed by Zompro (2004) is confusing due to its being based on features insufficient for the distinction of taxa or not even of existence. Zompro (2004: 142), transferred Pseudolcyphides and Alloeophasma from Anisomorphini to the newly described tribe Pseudophasmatini but retained Malacomorpha in Anisomorphini . However, as shown above all three taxa represent the same genus, with Pseudolycphides and Alloeophasma being synonyms of Malacomorpha .

Zompro (2004: 131) distinguished between Pseudophasmatini and Anisomorphini on the basis that the profemora were at least as long or distinctly longer ( Pseudophasmatini ), or equal in length to shorter than the head, pro- and mesonotum combined ( Anisomorphini ). However, measuring of these segments and comparing the length relations in numerous taxa of both tribes clearly show several species of either tribe to violate this distinguishing feature. Even within a single genus species occur, which have the profemora longer, equal or shorter than the combined length of the head, pro- and mesonotum. Zompro (2004: 133 & 144) furthermore distinguished between these two tribes by “ocelli present” ( Pseudophasmatini ) or “ocelli increasingly reduced” ( Anisomorphini ). This is not a feature of tribal value and rather obvious, due to Zompro included mainly winged forms in Pseudophasmatini and predominantly apterous taxa in Anisomorphini . It is generally known, that the reduction of ocelli in Phasmatodea evolved parallel to a reduction of the flight organs. This case is clearly seen in Malacomorpha which contains apterous, brachypterous and pterous taxa, with distinct ocelli present in the pterous species and increasingly reduced in apterous species. Other characters used by Zompro (2004: 133 & 144) to distinguish between Anisomorphini and Pseudophasmatini are ineffective and merely represent arbitrary trends that are not even constant for either tribe, e.g. “meso- and metafemora more rectangular in cross-section”, “meso- and metafemora more trapezoid in cross-section” or “female abdomen more round in cross-section”. In the phylogenetic discussion of Pseudophasmatinae, Zompro (2004: 130) stated the generic group of Anisomorphini , which contains Malacomorpha , to be characterized by a rough and dull body surface. Now, after the discovery of several new species, this is only true for certain species of Malacomorpha . The body surface can be conspicuously shiny in some species, e.g. M. macaya n. sp..

Zompro (2004) stated that the micropylar plate has a circular shape in Pseudophasmatini , while it is longer than wide, cordiform or oval shaped in Anisomorphini . Again, this distinguishing feature does not hold for all taxa of either tribe. A refutation and invalidation is for instance represented by the micropylar plates of Malacomorpha , which range from almost circular over slightly oval to distinctly longer than wide. Furthermore, it is well known and it was sufficiently recognized that the shape of the micropylar plate varies even intraspecifically in certain members of Anisomorphini (e.g. Anisomorpha ferruginea (Palisot de Beauvois) or Anisomorpha buprestoides (Stoll, 1813)) and therefore is of questionable use for the distinction of higer ordinate taxa (see: Conle & Hennemann, 2002).

For an unknown reason Zompro (2004: 142) listed Creoxylus Redtenbacher (1906: 141 , in part—not Audinet-Serville, 1838) as a synonym of Alloeophasma Redtenbacher, 1906 .

When designating a type-species for Alloeophasma Redtenbacher, Conle & Hennemann (2002: 17) were not aware that Phasma cyllarus Westwood, 1859 was not placed in that genus by Redtenbacher, but as “species incertae sedis” in his Phasmatini, section Phasmata (1906: 127). As Alloeophasma Redtenbacher, 1906 was described with only A. poeyi ( Saussure, 1868) included, there was no need to designate a type-species and the designation is invalid.

Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906 is very closely related and probably the sister taxon of Anisomorpha Gray, 1835 .

Distribution: Restricted to the Greater Antilles and Bahamas. So far recorded from Cuba, Bahamas, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico (→ Maps 1 & 2).

MAP 1. Distribution of the genus.

MAP 2. Distribution of the species from Hispaniola.

Species included:

1. Malacomorpha androsensis Rehn, 1906: 113 . [ Bahamas] 2. Malacomorpha bastardoae n. sp. [Hispaniola] 3. Necroscia cyllarus Westwood, 1859: 155 . [ Jamaica]

= Phasma graveolens King, 1867: 78 n. syn.

4. Malacomorpha hispaniola n. sp. [Hispaniola] 5. Anisomorpha jamaicana Redtenbacher, 1906: 94 . [ Jamaica] 6. Anisomorpha longipennis Redtenbacher, 1906: 92 . [ Cuba] 7. Malacomorpha macaya n. sp. [Hispaniola] 8. Malacomorpha minima n. sp. [Hispaniola] 9. Malacomorpha multipunctata n. sp. [Hispaniola] 10. Malacomorpha obscura n. sp. [Hispaniola] 11. Anophelepis poeyi Saussure, 1868: 67 . [ Cuba]

= Phasma cubense Saussure, 1868: 69 .

12. Malacomorpha sanchezi n. sp. [ Puerto Rico] 13. Phasma spinicollis Burmeister, 1838: 585 . [Hispaniola]