Leprocaulinus mammatus (Rehn, 1904: 44), 2021

Hennemann, Frank H., 2021, Stick insects of Sulawesi, Peleng and the Sula Islands, Indonesia- a review including checklists of species and descriptions of new taxa (Insecta: Phasmatodea), Zootaxa 5073 (1), pp. 1-189 : 33

5. Leprocaulinus mammatus (Rehn, 1904: 44) [ Carausius ].

HT, ♀: Obi Island, Moluccas; Carausius mammatus Rehn , Type No. 5143; Carausius mammatus Rehn [ANSP]. rev. stat., n. comb.

Comments: Examination of the HT clearly places this species in Leprocaulinus and proves it to be not a synonym of L. vipera bituber (Sharp, 1898) , a taxon described from New Britain. Instead, L. mammatus appears to be closely related to L. vipera vipera ( Kaup, 1871) and L. obiensis (Rehn, 1904) and is here re-established as a valid species. Characters that distinguish it from the latter have been presented by Rehn (1904: 46) and a proper distinction from the nominate form of L. vipera ( Kaup, 1871) , originally described from ♂♂ from Sulawesi, would need material of both sexes.The subspecies and numerous synonymies currently attributed to Kaup’s vipera are very doubtful and require critical evaluation.

Distribution: Maluku Islands, Obi [ANSP].