Sipyloidea lewisensis 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 : 32-35

Sipyloidea lewisensis Hasenpusch & Brock , spec. nov. [Mt. Lewis Winged Stick-insect]

( Figs. 52–61 )

Male (holotype) ( Figs. 52 –56): Slender, dark brown, indistinctly mottled, particularly on legs; cerci moderately long. Body length 50 mm.

Head: Almost as wide as long, eyes small. Broad cream side band between eyes and back of head, dark brown stripe beneath, narrower dark brown stripe between. Eye brown, with a black stripe. Head also with narrow central longitudinal line; three darker lines mentioned, continuing to end of pronotum. Antennae with 82 indistinct segments, basal and second segments broader and slightly longer than third / subsequent segments. Right antenna partly broken off, but left antenna easily exceeding length of fore legs. Back of head rather swollen.

Thorax: Pronotum slightly longer than head, slightly granulated, with central indentation. Mesonotum almost three times length of pronotum, heavily granulated, some smaller tubercles also present. Metanotum less than twice length of mesonotum.

Wings: Fore wings large, subtruncate, margin with a pale longitudinal band. Hind wings whitish, reaching half length of 7 th abdominal segment; pre-anal part same as body colour.

Abdomen: Segments with median and lateral longitudinal carina. End of anal segment subtruncate, slightly rounded at edges, subgenital plate tapering to an almost rounded tip, slightly incised in centre, reaching end of 9 th abdominal segment. Cerci almost as long as anal segment, rounded at tip.

Legs: Long, hind legs exceeding end of abdomen. Right mid leg broken off and missing.

Paratype male (1).

Same as holotype except for minor size and colour (paler) differences (body length 51 mm), left fore leg broken off and missing.

Paratype females (3) ( Figs. 57–61 ).

Larger, similar to the male, except much broader, paler brown and more mottled in two instances. Differences include: a much more granulated and tuberculated head, pronotum and mesonotum, hind wings rather short, only reaching about half of 5 th abdominal segment. Abdomen with five longitudinal carina. Operculum tapered to tip, reaching beyond end of 9 th abdominal segment. Smaller specimen in QMBA with both fore legs broken off and missing. Body length 64–74 mm.

Holotype ♂, Australia: north Queensland, Burton Ridge, Mt. Lewis , 1050 m., 11.i.2002, J. Hasenpusch ( QMBA) . Paratypes (all north Queensland, Australia): 2♀, same data, ♂, same data, except 7.i.2002 (all QMBA), ♀, ca 16°31ʹS; 145°16ʹE ( GPS), ca 7 km N. of Mount Lewis (ca 31.5 road km. from Julatten turnof), 16.i.1988, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop A-12 ( ANIC) .

Distribution So far found only in rainforest on Mt. Lewis, north Queensland.

Notes

Observed feeding on low-growing rainforest plants. Easily distinguished from similar brown, mottled Sipyloidea species , by the heavily granulated and tuberculated head, pronotum and mesonotum. In ANIC, listed as Sipyloidea sp. 17.

Derivation of name

Named after the type locality, Mt. Lewis, a dense rainforest regarded as a Gondwanan refuge area with high altitudes and many endemic plants and some insects.

Figures

FIGURE 52. Sipyloidea lewisensis holotype male (QMBA), 50 mm.

FIGURES 53–55. Sipyloidea lewisensis holotype male. 53. head and thorax. 54. end of abdomen, dorsal view. 55. end of abdomen, lateral view. 56. end of abdomen, ventral view.

FIGURE 57. Sipyloidea lewisensis 2 x female paratypes (QMBA), 64 & 74 mm.

FIGURE 58. Sipyloidea lewisensis head and thorax in female paratype.

FIGURES 59–61. Sipyloidea lewisensis female paratype. 59. end of abdomen, dorsal view. 60. end of abdomen, lateral view. 61. end of abdomen, ventral view.