Trachythorax chinensis ( Redtenbacher, 1908 )

Bresseel, Joachim & Constant, Jérôme, 1893, Review of the Oriental stick insect genus Trachythorax Redtenbacher, 1908 with two new species from Vietnam and comments on egg parasitism and morphological counteradaptations (Phasmida, Lonchodidae, Necrosciinae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 120, pp. 1-56 : 33

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13271854
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/B2191E3C-3157-FFAF-FE7B-FED8FBE8467D
treatment provided by	Felipe (2024-08-08 14:59:36, last updated by Guilherme 2024-08-09 10:58:59)
scientific name	Trachythorax chinensis ( Redtenbacher, 1908 )
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Trachythorax chinensis ( Redtenbacher, 1908) View in CoL

( Fig. 23 A View Fig )

Marmessoidea chinensis REDTENBACHER, 1908: 514 View in CoL [described].

Marmessoidea chinensis View in CoL – OTTE & BROCK, 2005: 193 [catalogued]. — ZOMPRO, 2005: 258 [catalogued, type data]. — CHEN & HE, 2008: 157 [in China]. — GAO & LIANG, 2021: 1 [in key to Chinese species].

Trachythorax chinensis View in CoL – SEOW-CHOEN, 2019: 86 [transferred to Trachythorax View in CoL ].

TYPE MATERIAL. (examined from photographs on PSF – BROCK et al., 2021) CHINA: HT ♀: Omi-Shan, West China , Kricheldorff S . ( ZMHB).

PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD. CHINA: ♂, ♀ in copula ( Fig. 23A View Fig ): Sichuan Prov., Luzhou , Gulin County, 28°13'48.6"N 105°46'07.7"E, 14.VIII.2021, iNaturalist user wangying https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91102094 GoogleMaps .

COMMENTS. Surprisingly REDTENBACHER (1908) described this species in the genus Marmessoidea Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893 although he described the genus Trachythorax Redtenbacher, 1908 in the same publication. The author differentiated both genera in his key to the Necrosciini by the presence ( Trachythorax ) or absence ( Marmessoidea ) of a pair of blunt humps on the mesonotum. Trachythorax chinensis ( Redtenbacher, 1908) also shows a pair of mesonotal humps, though being less pronounced. The type-locality Omi-Shan (currently Emei Shan) is located in Northwest Sichuan, China. A second species, Trachythorax longialatus Cai, 1989 ( Fig. 27 View Fig ), was also described from Sichuan, with its type locality about 125 km to the north. At the time of publication, CAI (1989) was probably unaware of the species chinensis as it was omitted from the list of Trachythorax species from China that the author provided, and the species was only later transferred to Trachythorax by SEOW-CHOEN (2019). GAO & LIANG (2021) differentiated T. chinensis from T. longialatus by the presence of black spots on the head in the former species. The holotype of T. chinensis is actually of a darker colouration than the holotype of T. longialatus , but no relevant differences in morphological characters could be observed when comparing images of the type specimens.

Direct comparison of the type material of both taxa combined with the examination of more recent material from Sichuan Province will allow to confirm or refute the possible synonymy between the two species. An illustration of a live specimen is provided here for the first time ( Fig. 23 A View Fig ) .

DISTRIBUTION. China: Sichuan Province ( REDTENBACHER, 1908).

References

BROCK P. D., BUSCHER T. & BAKER E., 2021. - Phasmida Species File Online. Version 5.0 / 5.0. http: // Phasmida. SpeciesFile. org [accessed 15 March 2021].

BRUNNER VON WATTENWYL K., 1893. - Revision du Systeme des Orthopteres et description des especes rapportees par M. Leonardo Fea de Birmanie. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria, Genova, 13 (33): 1 - 230.

CAI B. L., 1989. - Description of a new species of walking stick from China (Phasmatodea: Heteronemiidae). Acta Entomologica Sinica, 32 (3): 322 - 324.

CHEN S. & HE Y., 2008. - Phasmatodea of China. China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing. 476 pp.

GAO H. R. & LIANG L., 2021. - A new subspecies of Trachythorax Redtenbacher, 1908 (Phasmatodea: Necrosciinae) from Yunnan, China. Faunitaxys, 9 (4): 1 - 5.

OTTE D. & BROCK P. D., 2005. - Phasmida Species File. Catalog of Stick and Leaf Insects of the world, 2 nd Edition. The Insect Diversity Association and the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 414 pp.

REDTENBACHER J., 1908. - Die Insektenfamilie der Phasmiden. III. Phasmidae Anareolatae (Phibalosomini, Acrophyllini, Necrosciini). Verlag Engelmann, Leipzig, 3: 339 - 589.

SEOW-CHOEN F., 2019. - A taxonomic guide to the stick insects of Borneo Vol. 3 .. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu, 278 pp.

ZOMPRO O., 2005. - Catalogue of type-material of the insect order Phasmatodea, housed in the Museum fur Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Germany and in the Institut fur Zoologie der Martin-Luther- Universitat zin Halle (Saale), Germany. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 52 (2): 251 - 290.