Baculonistria chinensis (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) Bresseel & Constant, 2014

Bresseel, Joachim & Constant, Jérôme, 2014, Giant Sticks from Vietnam and China, with three new taxa including the second longest insect known to date (Phasmatodea, Phasmatidae, Clitumninae, Pharnaciini), European Journal of Taxonomy 104, pp. 1-38 : 4

Baculonistria chinensis (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) comb. nov. Fig. 1 A–J

Cuniculina chinensis Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907: 202 .

Baculum chinensis – Bi, Chen & He in Huang, 1992: 68 — Brock 1998: 21.

Ramulus chinensis – Otte & Brock, 2005: 301. — Brock & Delfosse 2005: 51. — Brock 2007: 49. — Hennemann, Conle & Zhang 2008: 28.

Baculum chinense – Chen & He, 2008: 295.

Type material examined

Lectotype (by present designation), ♂: Coll. Br. v. W., Sichuan, Fubyankho, Shintian- Lamasy, 2.VIII. [18]93, Potanin leg. (translated from Russian by Dr Vladimir Gnezdilov); det. Br. v. W. ( NHMW) ; paralectotype [2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀]: 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀: same data as lectotype ♂: NHMW, 2 ♀♀: ZIN); 1 ♀: Kiangsi, A. David 1875 (MNHN).

Note

One male labelled “ China Southeast, Chang Hai” in MNHN bears a type label. This specimen is here not recognized as a type because Brunner von Wattenwyl (1907) only mentions Kiangsi for the material in MNHN. Furthermore, examination has shown the specimen to be a male of B. magna (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) .

Remarks

When Brunner von Wattenwyl (1907) described Cuniculina chinensis , he stated that there was a large series of specimens “characterised by their variation”. At the moment only five specimens are traced: 2 males in NHMW, 2 females in ZIN and one female in MNHN.

Unfortunately the material in ZIN and NHMW is strongly damaged. A male syntype in NHMW is designated as lectotype. The other male lacks part of the abdomen. The female deposited in MNHN is from a different locality than the other types. The locality on the label mentions Kiangsi which is an old name for current Jiangxi Province, located in southeast China. This locality is relatively remote from Sichuan where the other material originates from.

Since the shape and size of the cephalic spines and armature of the legs is fairly different from the other specimens it remains questionable if the male and female are conspecific.

Figures

Fig. 1. Baculonistria chinensis (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907). — A–E. Paralectotype ♀ (MNHN, photographs by Emmanuel Delfosse). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C. Apex of abdomen, lateral view. D. Apex of abdomen, dorsal view. E. Labels. — F–J.Lectotype ♂ (©Natural History Museum Vienna, Orthoptera Image Collection, published with permission). F. Habitus, dorsal view. G. Habitus, lateral view. H. Apex of abdomen, lateral view. I. Apex of abdomen, dorsal view. J. Labels. C–D, H–I = not to scale