Pharmacus cochleatus ( Karny, 1935 ) Hegg & Morgan-Richards & Trewick, 2022

Hegg, Danilo, Morgan-Richards, Mary & Trewick, Steven A., 2022, High alpine sorcerers: revision of the cave wētā genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the description of six new species and three new subspecies, European Journal of Taxonomy 808 (1), pp. 1-58 : 25

Pharmacus cochleatus ( Karny, 1935) comb. nov.

The species, originally described by Karny (1935) as Isoplectron cochleatum based on two male specimens of unknown origin, was described a second time as Pharmacus chapmanae based on seven specimens from a relatively small geographical region in Otago and northern Fiordland. We have expanded the known range for the species considerably to the north, south and east ( Fig. 18B ). While specimens collected along the length of the Southern Alps and Fiordland are morphologically indistinguishable, they fall into three genetically and geographically distinct clades. Specimens collected in the mountains either side of Lake Wakatipu and south of the Greenstone and Kawarau River show some noticeable morphological differences compared to the populations further west. We thus propose to recognise four separate subspecies.

Figures

Fig. 18. Map of South Island, New Zealand, showing the known distribution of cave wētā in the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. A–B. Solid shapes indicate material collected as part of this study; empty circles indicate additional locations of material examined by Richards (1972). B. Shapes represent different subspecies: dark blue circle = Pharmacus cochleatus cochleatus; light blue circle = Pharmacus cochleatus nauclerus subsp. nov.; diamond = Pharmacus cochleatus fiordensis subsp. nov.; triangle = Pharmacus cochleatus rawhiti subsp. nov.