Otraleus christianae, Bresseel & Constant, 2017

Bresseel, Joachim & Constant, Jérôme, 2017, Philippine mossy forest stick insects: first record of the genus Otraleus Günther, 1935 in the country, with four new species, and the new genus Capuyanus gen. nov. (Phasmida, Diapheromeridae, Necrosciinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 265 (265), pp. 1-31 : 14-19

Otraleus christianae sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C5DC9E74-E012-4DCA-8442-5C03635AEBEC

Figs 8–9 , 10 A–F, 13

Etymology

The species epithet is given in honour of Mrs Christiane Schneider, the mother of Mr Thierry Heitzmann, one of the collectors of the type specimens.

Type material

Holotype PHILIPPINES: ♂, North Luzon , Mt Polis, Nov. 2013, T. Heitzmann leg. ( RBINS).

Paratypes (1 ♀, 1 ♂) PHILIPPINES: 1 ♀, same collection data as holotype ( RBINS) ; 1 ♂, same data ( UPLB) .

Description

The colouration is described from photographs of live specimens.

Male ( Fig. 8 )

MEASUREMENTS. See Table 3.

BODY. Brown to green with black patches scattered over body and legs.

HEAD. Longer than wide, notched dorsally between antennae, followed by a longitudinal groove reaching vertex. Between eyes, a raised circular area surrounded by a ring of granules. Vertex split, slightly elevated and rounded. Eyes circular and strongly projecting hemispherically. Antennae slightly setose, projecting over apex of abdomen but broken. Scapus slightly flattened dorsoventrally, subcylindrical in cross section. Pedicellus shorter than scapus and round in cross section. Antennomeres narrower than pedicellus and varying in length towards apex.

THORAX. Pronotum with anterior edge incurved and raised, followed by a transverse groove. A longitudinal median groove starting behind anterior edge, reaching posterior margin. Pronotum slightly constricted, with a second transverse impression before centre. Mesonotum smooth, slightly widening towards posterior. Centrally with two definite tubercles. Posteromedially with a small hump.

WINGS. Tegmina short, rounded, not reaching margin of median segment and with a small hump anterolaterally. Alae short, anal area transparent, projecting over apex of tergum III.

ABDOMEN. Median segment widening towards posterior. Terga II–VII with posterolaterally small, but well developed lobes. Terga V–IX with a posteromedian hump. Tergum X with posterior edge incurved, posterolateral angles rounded, swollen and armed with small black spines ventrally. Cerci small, round in cross section; apices slightly incurved and rounded, projecting over apex of abdomen. Vomer well developed, visible as an elongated, black, flattened spine with paler apex. Poculum slightly flattened, triangular in ventral view, narrowing towards posterior; apex acute, reaching apex of tergum IX.

LEGS. Long when compared to body, profemora compressed and curved basally. Femora and tibiae compressed laterally, with all carinae developed. Basitarsi longer than following tarsomeres combined. Tarsomeres gradually decreasing in length. Claws small.

Female ( Fig. 9 )

MEASUREMENTS. See Table 3.

BODY. Brown to green with black patches scattered over body and legs.

HEAD. Longer than wide, notched dorsally between antennae, followed by a longitudinal groove reaching vertex. Between eyes a raised circular area surrounded by granules. Vertex slightly elevated and rounded. Eyes circular and strongly projecting hemispherically. Antennae slightly setose, almost reaching apex of abdomen but broken. Scapus slightly flattened dorsoventrally, subcylindrical in cross section. Pedicellus shorter than scapus and round in cross section. Antennomeres narrower than pedicellus and varying in length towards apex.

THORAX. Pronotum with anterior edge incurved and raised, followed by a transverse groove.A longitudinal median groove starting behind anterior edge, reaching posterior margin. Pronotum slightly constricted subcentrally and with second transverse impression. Mesonotum scarcely granulose, slightly widening towards posterior. Centrally with two definite tubercles. Posteromedially with a small hump.

WINGS. Tegmina short, rounded, not reaching posterior margin of median segment and with a small hump antero-laterally, veins thickened. Alae short, anal area transparent, not reaching apex of tergum IV.

ABDOMEN. Median segment widening towards posterior.Terga II–VII with posterolaterally well developed lobes. Terga VIII–X laterally compressed. Tergum X with posterior edge incurved, postero-lateral angles rounded. Cerci small, round in cross section; apices slightly flattened and rounded, reaching apex of abdomen. Abdominal sterna smooth, sternum VII with a small ridge posteromedially. Subgenital plate compressed laterally, narrowing posteriorly, not reaching apex of abdomen.

LEGS. Long when compared to body, profemora compressed and curved basally. Femora and tibiae compressed laterally, with all carinae developed. Basitarsi longer than following tarsomeres combined. Tarsomeres gradually decreasing in length. Claws small.

Distribution

The species is recorded from Luzon, Mountain Province (see map Fig. 13 ).

Figures

Fig. 8. Otraleus christianae sp. nov., ♂, holotype. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C. Habitus, ventral view. D. Anterior part of body, dorsal view. E. Apex of abdomen, dorsal view. F. Apex of abdomen, ventral view. G. Apex of abdomen, lateral view. H. Anterior part of body, lateral view. D–H: not to scale.

Fig. 9. Otraleus christianae sp. nov., ♀, paratype. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C. Habitus, ventral view. D. Anterior part of body, dorsal view. E. Apex of abdomen, dorsal view. F. Apex of abdomen, ventral view. G. Apex of abdomen, lateral view. H. Anterior part of body, lateral view. D–H: not to scale.

Fig. 10. Otraleus spp., photographs in natura. — A–F. O. christianae sp. nov. A. ♂, 16 Nov. 2013. B. ♀, 16 Nov. 2013. C. ♂, 15 Mar. 2015. D. ♂, nymph, 15 Mar. 2015. E–F. ♀, nymph, 24 Aug. 2015. — G–H. O. elizabethae sp. nov., ♀, 11 Apr. 2013 (photographs: A–F © A. Kang; G–H © T. Heitzmann).

Fig. 13. Otraleus spp. and Capuyanus magwilangi sp. nov. Distribution map in Luzon.