New record
of a phasmid, Sipyloidea fontanesinaGiglio-Tos, 1910 (Necrosciinae: Diapheromeridae) from Barnwapara, Chhattisgarh,
India
T.K. Mukherjee 1,
K.K. Banerjee 2, B. Gupta 2 & S. Mukherjee 2
1,2Postgraduate
Department of Zoology, Presidency College, 86/1, College Street, Kolkata, West
Bengal 700073, India
Email: 1 mukherjee.tushar@redifmail.com
Date
of publication (online): 26 June 2010
Date
of publication (print): 26 June 2010
ISSN
0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: A.K. Hazra
Editor’s Note: Although this record is based on a single specimen
which is slightly damaged, the note is published due to the rarity of
this species.
Manuscript details:
Ms
# o2338
Received
30 October 2009
Finally
accepted 06 May 2010
Citation: Mukherjee, T.K., K.K. Banerjee, B. Gupta & S. Mukherjee
(2010). New record of a phasmid, Sipyloidea fontanesina Giglio-Tos, 1910
(Necrosciinae: Diapheromeridae) from Barnwapara, Chhattisgarh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(6): 978-979.
Copyright: © T.K. Mukherjee, K.K. Banerjee, B.
Gupta & S. Mukherjee 2010. Creative Commons Attribution
3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in
any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing
adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the authorities of Presidency College,
Kolkata for encouragement and laboratory facilities.
Phasmids belonging to the tribe Necrosciini (Subfamily
Necrosciinae) are the most diverse and numerous among all other tribes under
this subfamily. Many species are
quite difficult to ascertain accurate systematics. The genus Sipyloidea contains seven species from India apart from two more species
having doubtful occurrence from India. One seems to be Sipyloidea erechtheus (Westwood, 1859) recently collected from Karnataka (Murkul). The second species is Sipyloidea sipylus (Westwood, 1859) for which Brock
(1995) mentioned that the specimens from India and Bangladesh are probably
different species.
The original description of Sipyloidea fontanesina is brief and hence a detailed description is provided along with
variations. Images 1-5 are
provided here for better understanding of characteristics.
Material examined: 1 female, 15.iii.2009, (dry,
forelegs missing), Barnwapara, Chhattisgarh, India, coll. Dr. K. Banerjee et
al. PCEC-P1/2009, Entomology Laboratory Collection, Presidency College,
Kolkata.
Measurements (mm.): Total length 70; antennae 43; head
2.8x5 (length/width); pronotum 3x2 (length/width); metazona13; metanotum 10;
median segment 7; middle leg: femur 12, tibia 11, tarsi 5.5; hind leg: femur
17, tibia 14, tarsi 6.5; fore wing 6, hind wing 41.5.
Description: Eyes black. Antennae long and
slender, shorter than body, finely hairy, basal first segment thicker than
second segment, rest filiform. Head nearly
rectangular, longer than broad; blackish brown, with a median fine groove
ending anteriorly in a minute Y mark. Pronotum longer than broad, lateral margins parallel, with a
median and a transverse fine groove, latter placed in front of middle, with
scattered blackish patches. Mesonotum long with a raised median carina, entirely covered with minute
smooth granules, and scattered blackish patches; on each side is an elongated
narrow white patch that starts from near the middle of anterior half (left
patch a little above the right patch) and posteriorly the patches fade away to
ground colour of mesonotum. Ventrally the mesonotum is pale brown and feebly granulated; metanotum and median segment whitish-brown.
All legs rounded, smooth except for fine setae, with brown bands
at intervals. Middle legs: femur
and tibia, both dorsally and ventrally, with a distal blackish patch; dorsally the femur with extra feeble blackish bands. Tarsi dorsally
blackish, ventrally black. Hind legs: femur with distal black patch, shorter than that on middle
leg; this is more distinct dorsally than ventrally. Tibia black at distal half which is longer than that in
middle tibia; this band is complete on the left leg and on the right leg, there
is a small distinct distal portion which is not black.
Fore-wing more or less rectangular than oval-elongated, apex
conical; opaque, costal area reticulated with dirty spots; Sc whitish, radial
vein strong and black; cubitus is the only branched vein; anterior branch of
cubitus closely approximates radial vein. Remaining areas of the fore wing have a few
parallel transverse veinlets. Long veins distally deep brown.
Hind wings transparent, pointed at apex; costal and radial areas
as a whole brownish. Costal and
subcostal areas reticulated at a small area near base; at the other areas there
are transverse cross veins; cells with brownish patch are seen near basal of
costal area. All long veins with
black marks at intervals.
Second, third and fourth abdominal
segments ventrally gradually brownish, fourth being brownish-black; the rest of
the segments (ventrally) paler to whitish. Apex of anal segment
triangularly divided. Operculum carinated, pointed at apex; does not reach apex of last
segment.
Distribution: India: West Bengal (Kolkata);
Chhattisgarh (Barnwapara).
Discussion
This species was first recorded from Kolkata (Calcutta) by
Giglio-Tos (1910) and there seems to be no further record after the
discovery. The specimen is smaller
than that recorded by Giglio-Tos (1910), paler than the typical specimen in
Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino (MRSN). Other variations from published accounts are: (i) mesonotum
entirely covered by minute smooth granules and scattered blackish patches and
also an elongated narrow white patch on each side, (ii) in forewing, radial
vein strong and black and without black-spots in middle, (iii) in hindwing,
costal and radial areas as a whole are more brownish than the posterior area
which is uniformly but less brownish, not white; all long veins with black
marks at intervals.
References
Brock, P.D. (1995). Catalog of Malaysian species. Malayan
Nature Journal 49: 92.
Brock,
P.D. 1998 (1997). Catalogue of stick-insect (Insecta:
Phasmida) type material in the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino. Bollettino del Museo
Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino 15(2): 305.
Giglio-Tos, E. (1910). Fasmidi esotici
del R. Museo zoologico di Torino e del Museo civico di Storia naturale di
Genova. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia edAnatomia comparata della Royal Università di Torino 25(625): 53.
Otte, D. & P.D. Brock
(2005). Phasmida
Species File. Catalog of Stick and Leaf Insects of the World. The Insect Diversity Association
at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 318pp.