Dares validispinus
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| Stål , 1875 |
Dares validispinus is a typical representative of thegenus Dares, which belongs to the ghost horrors . The species isnative tothe northwest of the island of Borneo .
features
The wingless animals show the habitus typical of the genus . The females are about 4 to 5 cm long, have no spines and many tubercles on the body surface . The coloring is mostly dominated by rather dark brown tones. Light brown to yellowish spots are often found symmetrically on both halves of the body. The underside is colored light brown to beige. The feelers usually consist of 24, more rarely up to 26 segments. Your basal phalanx ( scapus ) is flat and has a tooth on the outside. As is typical for the genus, the abdomen of the females of Dares validispinus is widest in the middle and is also highest there in adult , egg-laying animals. Males are 3.5 to 4.1 cm in length smaller than the females, but on average they are slightly longer than the males of the closely related Dares verrucosus . They are colored with a relatively high contrast. On the dark brown shiny body there are various longitudinally arranged, light brown to yellow areas, which result in a light central stripe on the abdomen. On the thorax , more precisely on the meso- and metathorax , several of these yellow areas are arranged in such a way that they look like a brown-yellow stripe pattern, especially when viewed from the side, which rises slightly towards the spines and thus appears somewhat wavy. The legs are also completely colored dark brown. The males have four more or less distinct spines on their heads. Another pair of spines is located on the posterior meso- and metaphoric margin . To the side of the spines on the meso- and metanotum there is a further spine on the pleura . In contrast to Dares verrucosus and Dares ulula , the males of Dares validispinus lack a distinct pair of spines at the front edge of the mesothorax. On the upper side of the posterior half of the abdomen there are 3 to 4 paired, spike-like appendages. The antennae of the males each consist of 23 segments.
Occurrence and way of life
Dares validispinus is native to a wide strip in the northwest of the island of Borneo, where it has been detected from Sarawak via Brunei to Sabah . There is also evidence from the Labuan area .
This Dares species is also nocturnal. During the day the animals hide. In addition, their color and body shape make them easy to confuse with parts of plants. This strategy of camouflage (here phytomimesis ) is not given up even if the animals are discovered. When touched, they drop to the ground in order to remain there motionless in a state of fright . Only when there is no further contact do they slowly move back towards a suitable hiding place.
Only two to three eggs are laid on the ground per week. These are approximately spherical and about 3.2 mm in diameter and dark brown in color with irregular gray-brown spots. There are 0.3 mm long, creamy white, curved hairs on the surface, which means that the eggs often get stuck together. The large micropylar plate has three arms. One of the arms points towards the lid and almost reaches it, while the other two run circularly around the lower quarter of the egg (see also the construction of the phasmid egg ). The almost round lid (operculum) has a diameter of 2.0 to 2.4 mm. After four to six months, the 14 mm long nymphs hatch . Older female nymphs often have a contrasting reddish brown and light pattern. Often they show, as is typical for many members of the genus, a few bright, almost white spots at the base of the abdomen. It takes about a year for them to grow into adults. Adult females can live to be around two years old. Males are more short-lived.
Taxonomy and systematics
Carl Stål described the species in 1875 as a type of the simultaneously established genus Dares . The specific epithet " validispinus " chosen by him is borrowed from Latin and means "strongly thorny". Klaus Günther made the species a synonym for Dares ulula in 1935 . The Austrian entomologist Burghard Hausleithner identified despite these synonymisation by him in 1991 at the Natural History Museum in Vienna animals examined as Dares validispinus and synonymisierte Dares verrucosus with this. In 1998, Philip E. Bragg found in the animals examined by Hausleithner that only the females belong to Dares validispinus , while the male nymph is a representative of Dares verrucosus , which was thereby re- validated . From the two males described by Stål and deposited as paralectotypes in the Natural History Museum Vienna, one animal was selected as the lectotype.
Terrariums
Allan Harmann and Mary Salton brought the first living animals of this species with them to Great Britain from the Batu Niah National Park in Sarawak in 1979/80 . This makes Dares validispinus the first species of the genus that was kept in the terrariums of European enthusiasts. Further imports were made in 1994 by Mel Herbert from Brunei and in 1996 by Frank Hennemann and Oskar Conle from Mount Serapi in Sarawak.
Dares validispinus is easy to keep and breed. A higher air humidity is preferred , which can be achieved by a layer of soil covered with moist moss . In breeding, the leaves of blackberries and many other rose plants are eaten, as well as those of hazelnut , oak and salal .
From the phasmid Study Group will Dares validispinus under the PSG number 38th
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d Philip E. Bragg : Phasmids of Borneo , Natural History Publikations (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 2001, pp. 132-133, pp. 153-158, ISBN 983-812-027-8 .
- ↑ a b c Holger Dräger: Specters of the family Heteropterygidae Kirby , 1896 (Phasmatodea) - an overview of previously kept species, part 2: The subfamily Dataminae Rehn & Rehn , 1839 , ZAG Phoenix, No. 5 June 2012 Volume 3 (1) , Pp. 22-45, ISSN 2190-3476 .
- ^ A b Phasmatodea page by Oskar V. Conle and Frank H. Hennemann .
- ↑ a b Sven Bradler & Christoph Seiler: Phasmids - way of life - care - breeding. Ulmer, Stuttgart, 2012, pp. 88-89. ISBN 978-3-8001-7422-5 .
- ↑ Philip E. Bragg: A revision of the Heteropteryginae (Insecta: Phasmida: Bacillidae) of Borneo, with the description of a new genus and ten new species , Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden 316, 1998 pp. 47-69, figs 1-150 . ISSN 0024-1652 / ISBN 90-73239-61-3 , online version .
- ^ Paul D. Brock : Phasmida Species File Online . Version 2.1 / 4.1. (accessed on September 2, 2012).
- ↑ Phasmid Study Group Culture List ( Memento from December 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
