Contributions to the knowledge of Ceroys (Miroceroys) Piza, 1936 (Phasmatodea: Heteronemiidae): two new mossy stick insects from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Abstract

Several lineages of stick insects (Phasmatodea) are poorly studied, especially in the Neotropics. Recently, Brazilian stick insects have been subject of significant research and, among them, the Heteronemiidae, although several genera remain to be explored. Pygirhynchini is an Heteronemiidae lineage currently containing four genera, of which three occur in Brazil: Ceroys, Canuleius and Pygirhynchus. The former is subdivided in Ceroys (Ceroys) and Ceroys (Miroceroys) based on ornamentation variations absence or presence of a spine on the scapus. We describe two new species, Ceroys (Miroceroys) cancelloae sp. nov. and Ceroys (Miroceroys) indicattii sp. nov. based on both sexes and eggs. The new species inhabit submontane, ombrophilous Atlantic Forest in Southeast Brazil and can be differentiated from other Ceroys (Miroceroys) by conspicuous features of external morphology of adults and eggs. We also briefly describe and illustrate nymphal stages of C. cancelloae sp. nov. and present notes on the biology of both species, and a distribution map for the genus, increasing the scarce knowledge of the natural history of phasmids in Brazil.

Convergent Evolution of Adhesive Properties in Leaf Insect Eggs and Plant Seeds: Cross-Kingdom Bioinspiration

“…obs). Furthermore, other eggs of several unrelated phasmids also carry glue [ 26 ], and some seem to represent similar non-permanent water-responsive adhesive mechanisms [ 68 ]. The evolution of such egg surface structures and adhesive systems on eggs is likely a similar complex evolutionary scenario, comparable to other aspects of phasmatodean evolution [ 69 , 70 ], such as the tarsal adhesive systems.…”

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

“…The Phasmatodea is one of the least-studied insect orders in Brazil; recently, the state of the art of this group was reviewed by Madeira-Ott et al [ 8 ]. New initiatives have been increasing the knowledge about this group, especially regarding taxonomy, morphology, biology, and ecology [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. However, several factors bring difficulties to the study of this order in Brazil, such as intraspecific morphological variation, the low number of specimens collected, and a lack of specialised literature [ 20 ].…”

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

“…e passaram a envolver estudos taxonômicos e morfológicos mais completos(Chiquetto- Machado & Albertoni 2017; Heleodoro et al 2017a,b;Chiquetto-Machado 2018;Chiquetto- Machado et al 2018;Heleodoro & Rafael 2018;Crispino et al 2020;Chiquetto-Machado & Cancello 2021;Ghirotto 2021;Chiquetto-Machado et al 2022;Crispino et al 2022;Ghirotto et al 2022b), até incluindo fósseis brasileiros com morfologia moderna e relevantes para a evolução do grupo(Ghirotto et al 2022a). Neste século, uma boa parte do esforço taxonômico ainda vem de pesquisadores estrangeiros, em trabalhos bastante abrangentes que envolveram táxons brasileiros(Zompro & Adis 2001; Zompro 2001a; 2004a,b;Hennemann & Conle 2007b;Conle et al 2008;Hennemann et al 2016;2018;Madeira-Ott et al 2020).Mesmo com o aumento recente de publicações, a fauna do país permanece pouco estudada, com vazios de amostragem, escassez de material em coleções científicas, e muitos gêneros eespécies taxonomicamente mal definidos (Madeira-Ott et al 2020; Chiquetto-Machado et al 2022).…”