Aretaon asperrimus

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Aretaon asperrimus
Aretaon asperrimus, pair
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Phasmatodea
Family: Heteropterygidae
Subfamily: Obriminae
Tribe: Obrimini
Genus: Aretaon
Species:
A. asperrimus
Binomial name
Aretaon asperrimus
(Redtenbacher, 1906)
Synonyms[1]
  • Obrimus asperrimus Redtenbacher, 1906
philippine island Palawan
Very light colored and normally colored females

Aretaon asperrimus is a species of insect in the

habitus and many other species are thorny as well.[2]

Characteristics

Both sexes are completely wingless and have conspicuous thorns. Their eyes are mottled dark-brown and yellow. On the head, the pro- and the metathorax there is a pair, on the mesothorax two pairs of thorns are particularly well developed. These thorns are dark, red-brown, black-brown towards the tips. The rear pair on the mesothorax and that on the metathorax have even smaller side spines at their base. They stand out particularly clearly due to their contrast to the otherwise brown and beige marbled body of the female, or the male, which is drawn with yellow vertical stripes on a brown background. The legs, which are also brown, are thorny too.

In addition to these normal-colored animals, very light-colored animals can occasionally be found in which the brown colors are lighter, sometimes light beige. As a result, the parts of the thorns that then appear wine-red are much more noticeable. In addition, the colors can fade significantly in the course of life, and older females in particular often appear as if they were covered with a layer of lime. In addition to the more brown and pale yellow to beige colored animals from Borneo, the animals from

abdomen
and the thorax. A more or less characteristic pattern consisting of these greenish, dark brown and beige to pale yellow areas can often be found on the thorax.

The previously known males from Palawan are much more colorful than those from Borneo. A light, almost yellow stripe on the

Meso- and metasternum are colored bright orange. Their abdomen is brown on top, bright orange on the sides and pale orange from below. In the habitus both sexes correspond to the sexual dimorphism typical of the tribe Obrimini, in which the 5.0 to 6.0 centimetres (2.0 to 2.4 in) long males have a relatively slender abdomen with thicker end segments and the larger females with a length of 8.0 to 9.0 centimetres (3.1 to 3.5 in) have a wider abdomen, which swells significantly during the period of egg laying and ends in a pointed, secondary ovipositor.[3][4]

Distribution, life course and reproduction

Aretaon asperrimus is native to the

Philippine island Palawan.[6] It should also appear on Labuan and Luzon, more precisely in Benguet.[7]

The nocturnal insects prefer to hide on or behind the bark of the food plants during the day. The males allow themselves to be carried around by the females for days before, during and after mating. Four to five weeks after the last moult, the females begin to lay an average of one to a maximum of two cylindrical eggs a day with the ovipositor in the soil. These are 5.5 millimetres (0.22 in) long, 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) high, 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in) wide and about 25 mg in weight. They resemble the faeces of their parents and have a micropylar plate in the shape of an upside-down Y. The ends of the lower legs of the micropylar plate reach the ventral side of the egg in about 40% of the eggs. Macroscopically, they can be distinguished from the eggs of Trachyaretaon carmelae by the arm of the micropylar plate that widens towards the lid (operculum).

Depending on the temperature, the

predators than adults. This is an adaptation that can also be found in other representatives of tribe Obrimini and takes into account the softer exoskeleton of the nymphs. Usually the adolescent nymphs have a lively beige to brown pattern. But there are also animals with a green basic color.[5][8][9]

Taxonomy

The species was described by

Latin: asper 'rough, coarse'; and rimosus 'cracked, full of crevices').[5]

The

St. Petersburg.[2]

Terraristic

Aretaon asperrimus was introduced for the first time in 1992 and a second time in 1996 for

et al to the phylogenesis of the Heteropterygidae, proved on the basis of genetic analysis the affiliation of this stock to Aretaon asperrimus, which since then has been referred to as Aretaon asperrimus 'Palawan'.[4][6][13]

A. asperrimus is one of the easiest Phasmatodea species to keep and to breed. Also eaten are

bramble, and Crataegus (hawthorns). The food plants are placed as leafy twigs in narrow-necked vases in the terrarium and sprayed with water about every two days. To lay eggs, a five-centimeter-high layer of a slightly damp humus-sand mixture should cover the ground. The eggs can be left in the ground or transferred to a simple incubator for better control.[3][9][14]

Gallery

  • Eggs
    Eggs
  • L1 nymph
    L1 nymph
  • female nymph
    female nymph
  • Illustrations (plate. I, fig. 4 & 5) from Redtenbachers first description
    Illustrations (plate. I, fig. 4 & 5) from Redtenbachers first description

References

  1. ^ "Aretaon asperrimus". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Brock, P. D.; Büscher, T. H. & Baker, E. W. Phasmida Species File Online. Version 5.0/5.0 (accessdate 10 July 2021)
  3. ^
    ISBN 3-933646-89-8
  4. ^
    ISSN 1866-5896
  5. ^
    ISBN 983-812-027-8
  6. ^ a b Bank, S.; Buckley, T. R.; Büscher, T. H.; Bresseel, J.; Constant, J.; de Haan, M.; Dittmar, D.; Dräger, H.; Kahar, R. S.; Kang, A.; Kneubühler, B.; Langton-Myers, S. & Bradler, S. (2021). Reconstructing the nonadaptive radiation of an ancient lineage of ground-dwelling stick insects (Phasmatodea: Heteropterygidae), Systematic Entomology, DOI: 10.1111/syen.12472
  7. ^
    Rehn, J. A. G. & Rehn, J. W. H.
    (1938). The Orthoptera of the Philippine Island, Part 1. - Phasmatidae; Obriminae, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 90, p. 422
  8. ^ Zompro, O. (2000). Gespenstheuschrecken der Familie Heteropterygidae im Terrarium - Reptilia - Terraristik Fachmagazin (Nr. 24, August/September 2000) Natur und Tier, Münster 2000
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-3-86523-073-7
  10. ^ Redtenbacher, J. (1906). Die Insektenfamilie der Phasmiden. Vol. 1. Phasmidae Areolatae. Verlag Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, pp. 41–42 & plate. I, fig. 4 & 5
  11. ISBN 3-931374-39-4
  12. ISBN 978-983-812-169-9
  13. ^ Phasmid Study Group Culture List
  14. ^ Zompro, O. (2012). Grundwissen Phasmiden – Biologie - Haltung - Zucht. Sungaya Verlag, Berlin, p. 69, ISBN 978-3-943592-00-9
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