Phyllium westwoodii

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phyllium westwoodii
Phyllium westwoodii, female

Phyllium westwoodii , female

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Ghost horror (Phasmatodea)
Family : Walking Leaves (Phylliidae)
Genre : Phyllium
Subgenus : Phyllium
Type : Phyllium westwoodii
Scientific name
Phyllium westwoodii
Wood-Mason , 1875

Phyllium westwoodii is one of the better known species of walking leaf (Phylliidae). Occasionally she is referred to as Westwood's Walking Tour. Astrain of this species foundin the terrarium of lovers has long been referred to as Phyllium celebicum . According to Hennemann et al. However, these animals are Phyllium westwoodii . Thus, allterrarium observations publishedabout Phyllium celebicum up to 2009 wouldreferto Phyllium westwoodii .

Systematics

Within the genus Phyllium , this species is assigned to the subgenus Phyllium , which is differentiated from the subgenus Pulchriphyllium . The clear assignment of animals to the species described by Wood-Mason in 1875 was made more difficult because only two syntypes of this species are known. Both were deposited in the National Zoological Survey of India in Calcutta . Both the female from Port Blair and the other specimen from Myanmar (Burma) can no longer be found. Thus, only the drawing of the female syntype from Port Blair made by Wood-Mason in 1875 is available for comparative studies. Hennemann et al. revised the genus in their revision . On the one hand, they clarified the identity of the animals previously bred and also submitted the proposal to subdivide the genus Phyllium into species groups below the sub-genera. Phyllium westwoodii is classified in the celebicum species group . Detlef Großer assumes that Phyllium celebicum and Phyllium westwoodii are only subspecies or variations of the same species and justifies this with the identical construction of the male vomer (see abdomen of the ghost horror ), which has two hooks, one small and one large as well as the identical internal sclerite of the females. Further arguments are the great similarity or identical appearance of the eggs and larvae, as well as the eye spots that occur in both forms, but can also be missing. He therefore advocates the more established name Phyllium celebicum . This would also have priority if it should turn out that it is a single species, since it was published by Wilhem de Haan in 1842 and is therefore older than Phyllium westwoodii , which was only established by James Wood-Mason in 1875 .

features

The females reach a body length of 80 to 90 millimeters. The males remain significantly smaller at 55 to 67 millimeters. In both sexes, the body, like the legs, is bordered on the sides by a thin brown band. In the adult female animals, the forewings, here designed as tegmina , imitate foliage leaves including leaf veins, which contributes to a perfect mimesis . Unlike most of the other Phyllium species, they have membranous hind wings (alae), like the other already known females of the celebicum species group, which are not suitable for flying. The adult males have fully developed hind wings that make them capable of short flights. The shorter front wings cover a good third of the rear. The body of the males is narrowly lanceolate. The males usually carry their antennae over their bodies, pointing backwards. In addition, both the adults and the nymphs have a distinctive pair of eye spots on the fifth abdomen segment . But this can also be completely absent. To distinguish between the two types, Hennemann et al. besides the origin and morphological characteristics of Imagines approach. The males of Phyllium westwoodii have approximately oval abdominal margins, while the margins of the fifth and sixth abdominal segments of the Phyllium celebicum males have straight, parallel margins. The hind wings of the adult females of Phyllium westwoodii reach more than 2/3 the length of the forewings, while those of Phyllium celebicum are only about half as long as the forewings.

Occurrence, way of life and reproduction

Phyllium westwoodii occurs in southern China , Thailand , Cambodia , Vietnam , Laos , Myanmar (Burma) and the Andaman Islands . Only those from the Indonesian islands of Ambon and Sulawesi are, according to Hennemann et al. around Phyllium celebicum .

During the day, the species usually sits motionless and well camouflaged on the forage plants. When the animals move, they do so in the swinging pace typical of the walking leaves. The newly hatched nymphs run very quickly through the branches in the first few days before they begin to eat and adopt the way of life of their parents.

The angular eggs, which are 3.4 to 3.7 millimeters long and 2.8 to 3.1 millimeters wide, hatch after about four months, which are initially reddish-brown, white-spotted, very narrow nymphs. The color of the older nymphs and adults is strongly dependent on the humidity during the development of the nymphs. High humidity leads to green, low humidity to yellow-brown and red-striped, yellow animals. It takes about four months to develop into an adult insect. After the second moult, the males can be distinguished from the females, whose abdomen becomes increasingly wider, by the diamond-shaped abdomen, which becomes increasingly narrow during the subsequent moults . The life expectancy of adult females is six months, that of males around three months. Three weeks after molting into the imago, the females begin laying the 180 or so eggs.

Terrariums

Since the early 1990s, animals from Thailand have been in breeding, which were initially in circulation as Phyllium celebicum . These Walking Leaves, which are listed under PSG number 128 by the Phasmid Study Group , were developed within the framework of the Hennemann et al. in 2009 carried out revision of the genus determined as Phyllium westwoodii . Thus, all husbandry reports published up to 2009 do not refer to Phyllium celebicum , but describe the keeping and breeding of Phyllium westwoodii . The Phyllium celebicum , which was collected in the south of Sulawesi in 2008, has only been in breeding since 2008 and 2009. Since both names are still in use, enthusiasts often encounter difficulties in determining the species actually kept, especially if they do not know the origin or the place of discovery. The Phasmid Study Group also keeps the animals from Thailand with the PSG number 128 as Phyllium celebicum .
Phyllium westwoodii is relatively easy to keep in the terrarium . At temperatures above 20 ° C (preferably 22 to 27 ° C) and a humidity of 70 percent, the animals can be reproduced without any problems. Blackberry leaves as well as oak , hazel and guava leaves ( Psidium ) can be offered as food . A parthenogenetic breeding is possible and through the lower life expectancy of males such farms are also available, but these are not as productive and can be prevented because of the high life expectancy of females and a consequent months of filing of fertilized eggs.

photos

  • Egg from the side and from the front

  • a few days old nymph

  • left female, right male nymph

  • male

credentials

  1. ↑ Alexander Esch: Poles, ghosts, walking leaves: successful keeping of phasmids . Natur und Tier-Verlag, Münster 2012, p. 103, ISBN 978-3-86659-221-6
  2. ↑ a b c d e Frank H. Hennemann , Oskar V. Conle , Marco Gottardo & Joachim Bresseel : Zootaxa 2322: On certain species of the genus Phyllium Illiger, 1798, with proposals for an intra-generic systematization and the descriptions of five new species from the Philippines and Palawan (Phasmatodea: Phylliidae: Phylliinae: Phylliini) , Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand 2009, ISSN  1175-5326
  3. ↑ Detlef Großer : New Insights and Critical Remarks on certain species of Walking Leaves (Insecta: Phasmatodea: Phylliidae) , Arthropoda Generalis 3, p. 15, Sungaya Verlag 2011, ISSN  2191-4427
  4. ↑ Phyllium page by Detlef Larger
  5. ↑ a b http://www.phyllium.de/html/ph_celebicum.html
  6. ↑ 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
  7. ↑ Detlef Großes: Wandering Leaves , Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-930612-46-8
  8. ^ A b Roy Bäthe, Anke Bäthe & Mario Fuß: Phasmiden , Schüling Verlag, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-86523-073-7
  9. ↑ Phasmid Study Group Culture List ( Memento from December 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
  10. ↑ Phasmatodea page by Oskar V. Conle and Frank H. Hennemann ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.phasmatodea.com

Web links

Commons : Phyllium westwoodii  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
  • EatenByInsects.de - About the keeping of Phyllium westwoodii (here still called Phyllium celebicum )