Eurycantha

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Eurycantha
Spike-hawk insect (Eurycantha calcarata), male

Spike-hawk insect ( Eurycantha calcarata ), male

Systematics
Order : Ghost horror (Phasmatodea)
Subordination : Verophasmatodea
Family : Phasmatidae
Subfamily : Lonchodinae
Tribe : Eurycanthini
Genre : Eurycantha
Scientific name
Eurycantha
Boisduval , 1835
Eurycantha insularis , female laying eggs
Eurycantha rosenbergii , specimen from a female

Eurycantha ( Syn. : Karabidion , Carabidion ) is a genus of the order of stick insects (Phasmatodea), whose representatives on the island of New Guinea and neighboring islands are home. The German names Dorngespenstschrecken or Giant ghosts areseldom used for the entire genus, but they are also used for other ghost horrors and are therefore not unique. The name tree lobster , which actually describes the species Dryococelus australis , is also used in some publications as a name for this genus or for individual representatives, such as Eurycantha horrida . It is often not differentiated whether all those species of the tribe Eurycanthini are meant here thatare similarin their morphology or certain taxonomically delimitable groups.

features

All Eurycantha species are wingless and have strong thorns on the entire body edge. The overall size varies between 8 and 15 centimeters, depending on the species and gender. The males always have a slimmer abdomen and are significantly smaller in some species, but can also almost reach the size of the females, such as Eurycantha calcarata . These can be easily distinguished from the males by the wider abdomen, which ends in a beak-shaped ovipositor .

behavior

The nocturnal animals often hide in groups in the food plants during the day. In particular, their cavities are searched for. At night they eat, mate and lay their eggs. To do this, the females leave the food plants and lay their eggs in the ground with the laying stinger. The males of the larger species are very aggressive towards one another and fight for the territories with raised hind legs and abdomen backwards towards each other. These fights can lead to serious injuries due to the thorns on the hind legs. These weapons are also used to defend against attackers.

Systematics

The genus was established by Boisduval in 1835 for the current type species Eurycantha horrida . In 1855, Montrouzier described the genus Karabidion with the new species Karabidion micranthum (now Eurycantha micrantha ) and Karabidion australe (now Dryococelus australis ). He also transferred Eurycantha horrida to this genus. All species were transferred to the older genus Eurycantha by Westwood as early as 1859 , making Karabidion a synonym for Eurycantha . This also applies to the spelling Carabidion used by Redtenbacher in 1908 . The differentiation between the species has not yet been fully clarified. While certain names are now only accepted as synonyms by most authors, others still use them as separate types. So apply Eurycantha coenosa and Eurycantha coriacea today mostly as a synonym for Eurycantha insularis . Sometimes Eurycantha coenosa is still listed as a separate species and Eurycantha coriacea is still a subspecies of Eurycantha insularis . Other species are so similar that only the number of thorns allows a determination. The males of Eurycantha calcarata only have one large thorn on the inside of the rails of the hind legs, whereas those of Eurycantha horrida have two. According to the “Phasmida Species File Online”, the following species belong to the genus Eurycantha :


(Syn. = Eurycantha diabolus Redtenbacher , 1908)
(Syn. = Eurycantha sifia Kirby , 1904)
(Syn. = Eurycantha willeyi Kirby , 1904)
(Syn. = Eurycantha coenosa Redtenbacher , 1908)
(Syn. = Eurycantha coriacea Redtenbacher , 1908)
(Syn. = Eurycantha echinata Lucas , 1878)

Keeping in the terrarium

Only a few species are currently kept in the terrarium . The Phasmid Study Group only has three numbers for members of the genus Eurycantha in culture . These are for Eurycantha calcarata the PSG number 23, for one of Indonesia native form, currently classified as undescribed subspecies of Eurycantha calcarata is handled, the PSG number 44 and for Eurycantha insularis the PSG number 111th

Web links

Commons : Eurycantha  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scinexx - The Knowledge Magazine: Tree Lobsters have no relatives
  2. ↑ a b Christoph Seiler, Sven Bradler, Rainer Koch: Phasmids - care and breeding of ghost horrors, stick insects and walking leaves in the terrarium , bede, Ruhmannsfelden 2000. ISBN 3-933646-89-8
  3. ↑ Phasmatodea page by Oskar V. Conle and Frank H. Hennemann
  4. ^ Burghard Hausleithner : Keeping and breeding of Eurycantha calcaratha (Phasmatodea) . Entomologische Zeit., 95 (10) 124-144, Reimar Hobbing GmbH Verlag, Edition Kernen, Essen 1985.
  5. ^ Paul D. Brock : Phasmida Species File Online . Version 5.0 / 5.0 (accessed November 17, 2018)
  6. ↑ PSG Culture List on the Phasmid Study Group website .