Cladomorphus petropolisensis, a New Species of Stick Insect from the Atlantic Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Cladomorphus petropolisensis sp. nov., a new species of stick insect from Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is herein described and compared to the other sympatric species, C. phyllinus Gray, 1835 (Phasmatidae, Cladomorphinae). The description of the new species is supported by morphological and molecular evidence. Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) intraspecific COI divergences among the holotype of C. petropolisensis sp. nov. and C. phyllinus individuals ranged from 2.9% to 4.4%, which are suggestive of distinct species, especially when considering that all Cladomorphus individuals studied were collected in the Petrópolis municipality. The new species can be distinguished from C. phyllinus Gray, 1835 by several characteristics: smaller size, the presence of two spines on the hind femora, the relative longer length of the ovipositor, and spiny tegument, especially in the mesonotum, sculpturing of the operculum of the egg.

Unraveling the Sexual Dimorphism of First Instar Nymphs of the Giant Stick Insect, Cladomorphus phyllinus Gray, 1835, from the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

“…The sample was collected in accordance with the Brazilian biodiversity policies, under SISBIO license number 12123. The collected specimen was identified as C. phyllinus based on the literature and taxonomical keys [10,11,16,22,38], was corroborated using DNA analysis, and compared with previously published studies [12,23].…”

“…Madeira-Ott et al [12] emphasized the articles by Toledo Piza as a significant contribution to the state-of-theart studies on Brazilian Phasmida. Additionally, several studies on Brazilian taxa in the last 20 years have been conducted on the subject, including taxonomic revisions [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], redescription of iconic taxa such as Tithonophasma tithonus (Gray, 1835) and Pseudophasma cambridgei Kirby 1904 [20,21], and descriptions of two new species in the genus Cladomorphus Gray, 1835 [22,23] and one in Isagoras Stål, 1875 [24]. Nevertheless, many aspects of their developmental stages are unknown.…”

“…However, it is a poorly studied species and is mainly geographically distributed in the Atlantic Forest and other areas in the north and northeast regions of Brazil and Argentina [11,19]. Phenotypical aspects of adults and eggs and some biological features of the mentioned species are already present in the literature [23,[32][33][34][35][36]. It has also been used as an interesting species for scientific dissemination and educational training programs for children [37].…”

“…Cladomorphus phyllinus is one remarkable example of SD and SSD since the adults have accentuated phenotypical differences: the males have wings and are smaller and slenderer, reaching only up to 15 cm in length, while the females are apterous, reaching up to 26 cm in length [22,23,38]. However, analysis of SD during the early developmental phase has not been extensively explored in Phasmida; for instance, several decades ago, Leuzinger et al [39] and Wilbert [40] studied the development of the 8th abdominal sternite in male and female nymphs of Carausius morosus Wattenwyl, 1907.…”

Morfologia, biologia e revisão taxonômica de Exocnophila Zompro, 2001 (Insecta: Phasmatodea: Diapheromeridae)

“…Até poucos anos atrás, apenas um pesquisador brasileiro havia trabalhado sistematicamente com a ordem, Salvador de Toledo Piza, descrevendo diversas espécies de bichos-pau (Toledo Piza 1936a,b;1937;1938a,b;1939a,b;1977;1985a,b.). Apenas muito recentemente as publicações científicas com bichospau no Brasil deixaram de se limitar apenas a estudos esporádicos por parte de pesquisadores que não trabalham diretamente com a ordem (Kumagai & Fonseca 2009;Araujo & Garraffoni 2012a,b;Lima et al 2013;Monteiro et al 2014;Alvarenga et al 2018;Costa et al 2022) (Whiting et al 2003;Buckley et al 2009;Bradler et al 2014;Robertson et al 2018;Simon et al 2019) Robertson et al (2018) também ressaltam que não se conhece apomorfias morfológicas conspícuas para delimitar as duas tribos, embora os ovos de Oreophoetini tendam a ser achatados dorsoventralmente e terem opérculo simples, sem ornamentações, e os ovos de Diapheromerinae tendam a ser menos ou pouco achatados, e a possuírem ornamentações no opérculo, chamadas de pseudo-capítulo ou capítulo, sem haste, em forma de matriz. A falta de característica morfológicas apomórficas não significa que elas não existam, mas é reflexo da falta de estudos, da pobre caracterização de diversos gêneros, e da omissão de características mais discretas ou menos tradicionais no estudo de Phasmatodea (como detalhes do tarso, valvas da fêmea, órgão fálico do macho), o que é ainda mantido na maioria dos trabalhos taxonômicos atuais (Gutiérrez-Valencia et al 2017;Ghirotto 2021;Chiquetto-Machado et al 2022).…”