 |
| Pylaemenes scrupeus Bresseel & Jiaranaisakul, 2021 |
The new species Pylaemenes scrupeus sp. nov. from Ratchaburi province, Thailand is described and illustrated based on both sexes and the egg. The new species is diagnosed and differentiated from closely related species. The constitution of Pylaemenes Stål, 1875 and the problems arising with generic attribution of species, considering recent phylogenetic studies, are discussed. The genus is for the first time recorded from Thailand and pictures of living specimens and the habitat as well as a distribution map of continental Pylaemenes species are provided. Dares ziegleri Zompro & Fritzsche, 1999 is transferred to Orestes Redtenbacher, 1906 leaving the genus Dares Stål, 1875 restricted to Borneo and Palawan.
Keywords: Myanmar, taxonomy, Phasmatodea, stick insect
Family Heteropterygidae Kirby, 1869
Subfamily Dataminae Rehn & Rehn, 1939
Tribe Datamini Rehn & Rehn, 1939
Genus Pylaemenes Stål, 1875
Pylaemenes scrupeus sp. nov.
DIAGNOSIS & DIFFERENTIATION. The new species is currently attributed to the genus Pylaemenes Stål, 1875 even though the current constitution of the genus has shown to be paraphyletic (BANK et al., 2021; see discussion below). It is diagnosed by the conically elevated back of the head, formed by four converging carinae; the thickened lateral edges of meso- and metanotum, and the medially elevated and compound anterior margin of the mesonotum. The females resemble those of Pylaemenes pui Ho, 2013, with whom they share the short and broad mesonotum, the strongly widening abdominal terga II-IV and the straight lateral margins of the anal segment; but they can be differentiated by the lack of a central coronal and the less pronounced leg armature. The males resemble those of Pylaemenes mitratus (Redtenbacher, 1906), with whom they share the strongly developed supra-antennals, the triangularly raised anterior margin of the mesonotum and a pair of posteromedial mesonotal spines but can be differentiated by the presence of armature on the metanotum and a pair of rough blunt spines on tergum V instead of a pair of smooth conical spines as in P. mitratus.
ETYMOLOGY. The species epithet “scrupeus” (adjective, Latin) means rugged, referring to the general shape of this species.
Joachim Bresseel and Kawin Jiaranaisakul. 2021. Pylaemenes scrupeus sp. nov., A New Datamini from Thailand (Phasmida: Heteropterygidae: Dataminae). Belgian Journal of Entomology.
