Pleioplectron thomsoni ( Chopard, 1923 ) Hegg & Morgan-Richards & Trewick, 2019

Hegg, Danilo, Morgan-Richards, Mary & Trewick, Steven A., 2019, Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 577, pp. 1-46 : 17-19

Pleioplectron thomsoni ( Chopard, 1923) comb. nov.

Figs 2 A–B, 6B, 7C, 8G–H, 10G–H, 13, 14C–D, 18C, 20

Weta thomsoni Chopard, 1923: 234 , figs 10–18.

Diagnosis

A medium-sized cave wētā with long legs, pale colour, pronotum and tergites glabrous and shiny. It is common and widespread in caves and forests in South Canterbury and Otago, New Zealand. It has prolateral and retrolateral apical spines on both fore and mid femur.

Etymology

Named in honour of Dr. J. Allan Thomson (1881–1928), director of the Dominion Museum, Wellington, who sent the type specimens to Chopard. It is not known whether Thomson collected the specimens himself, or whether they were given to him by someone else.

Material examined (see also Table 4 in Supplementary Material)

Syntypes

NEW ZEALAND • 1 ♂, adult; South Canterbury (SC), Opihi River, Raincliff ; 44.16158° S, 170.99234° E; 150 m a.s.l.; 4 May 1917; limestone caves; MNHN EO-ENSIF4924 • 1 ♀, adult; same data as for preceding; MNHN EO-ENSIF4925 .

Other material

NEW ZEALAND – South Canterbury (SC) • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same locality as syntypes; 11 Sep. 2004; S. Pawson leg.; MPN CW146 to CW148 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 nymph; same locality as syntypes; 2 Jul. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; night search + insect net; MPN CW3115 to CW3117 • 1 ♀, 3 nymphs; same locality as syntypes; 5 Nov. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; night search + insect net; MPN CW3911 , CW3945 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Opihi River, Pioneer Park ; 44.13967° S, 170.96495° E; 200 m a.s.l.; 5 Nov. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; on log in native forest; night search + insect net; MPN CW3912 , CW3913 • 1 ♂, 1 nymph; Peel Forest, Big Tree ; 43.89352° S, 171.25776° E; 300 m a.s.l.; 11 Dec. 2017; D. Hegg leg.; on forest floor in native forest; night search + insect net; MPN CW3643 , CW3644 • 1 ♂; Timaru, Centennial Park ; 44.38946° S, 171.19512° E; 50 m a.s.l.; 27 Nov. 2018; D. Hegg leg.; on clay bank under pine trees; night search + insect net; MPN CW4241 • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, 1 nymph; Claremont Bush Reserve ; 44.41300° S, 171.08382° E; 120 m a.s.l.; 21 Sep. 2018; D. Hegg leg.; on forest floor under pine trees; night search + insect net; MPN CW4082 , CW4115 , CW4116 , CW4139 • 1 ♀; Valley of the Moa ; 44.42930° S, 170.97600° E; 200 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2018; D. Hegg leg.; under limestone boulder; night search + insect net; MPN CW3918 • 1 ♂; Otaio Gorge ; 44.52386° S, 170.92736° E; 250 m a.s.l.; 17 Mar. 2018; D. Hegg leg.; on tree trunk in native forest; night search + insect net; MPN CW3917 . – Central Otago (CO) • 1 nymph; Danseys Pass ; 44.96188° S, 170.32864° E; 650 m a.s.l.; 7 May 2016; D. Hegg leg.; on rocky stream bank; night search + insect net; MPN CW3017 • 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Cromwell, Bendigo ; 44.93904° S, 169.36751° E; 600 m a.s.l.; 29 Nov. 2006; L.D. Cook and P.M. Johns leg.; in gold mining tunnel; MPN CW1877 to CW1881 • 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Cromwell, Bannockburn loop track; 45.07912° S, 169.13912° E; 300 m a.s.l.; 29 Nov. 2006; L.D. Cook, P.M. Johns and R.C. Pratt leg.; in gold mining tunnel; MPN CW1390 to CW1396 • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same locality as preceding; Jan. 2013; T. Jewell leg.; MPN CW2584 to CW2586 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 8 nymphs; same locality as preceding; 26 Nov. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; insect net; MPN CW3432 to CW3438 , CW4008 , CW4009 , CW4014 . – Otago Lakes (OL) • 1 ♂; Wanaka, Mt Iron Track ; 44.69315° S, 169.16461° E; 500 m a.s.l.; Jan. 2016; T. Jewell leg.; MPN CW2850 . – Dunedin (DN) • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Trotters Gorge ; 45.40581° S, 170.77583° E; 100 m a.s.l.; 12 Aug. 2017; D. Hegg leg.; in cave; insect net; MPN CW3780 , CW4006 , CW4007 , CW4010 , CW4011 • 1 ♀; Dunedin, Long Beach ; 45.74939° S, 170.64381° E; 0 m a.s.l.; 10 May 2016; D. Hegg leg.; under boulders; night search + insect net; MPN CW3009 • 1 ♀, 2 nymphs; same locality as preceding; 8 Nov. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; night search + insect net; MPN CW4012 , CW4013 , CW4015 • 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Silverpeaks, Tunnels Track ; 45.71178° S, 170.51262° E; 200 m a.s.l.; 24 Oct. 2017; D. Hegg leg.; in gold mining tunnel; insect net; MPN CW3703 , CW3883 to CW3886 • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, 1 nymph; Manuka Gorge, Mt Stuart Tunnel ; 46.06945° S, 169.8276° E; 100 m a.s.l.; 12 Jan. 2005; S. Trewick leg.; in old railway tunnel; MPN CW281 A, CW281 B, CW282 , CW283 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same locality as preceding; 27 Mar. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; insect net; MPN CW2845 , CW2846 • 1 ♂, 1 nymph; same locality as preceding; 15 Nov. 2016; D. Hegg leg.; insect net; MPN CW4004 , CW4005 .

Description

The original description by Chopard (1923) is both detailed and accurate, and is complemented by excellent drawings that have stood the test of time (see Fig. 13 ). A redescription is not required.

Figures

Fig. 2. Phylogenetic relationships of Pleioplectron Hutton, 1896 cave wētā based on mtDNA sequence. A. Bayesian analysis using a mtDNA sequence alignment of 1429 bp spanning the majority of COI, with a minimum individual sequence length of 1330. Posterior probabilities are shown by nodes. B. Maximum Likelihood tree using PhyML with a COI alignment that contained sequences ranging from 483bp to 1429 bp, although the majority were>850 bp at the 3′ end of the gene. C. Map of New Zealand entomological (Crosby) regions. These codes are indicated in the Material examined section for each species.

Fig. 13. Pleioplectron thomsoni (Chopard, 1923) comb. nov., adult ♂ A. Original drawing by Lucien Chopard (1923), syntype, ♂, Raincliff Reserve, South Canterbury (MNHN EO-ENSIF4924). B. Pioneer Park, South Canterbury (MPN CW3912). Scale bar = 2 mm.