Studies on Neotropical Phasmatodea XXV: Revision of Pterinoxylus Serville, 1838, with the descriptions of two new species from Costa Rica. (Phasmatodea: Oriophasmata: Cladomorphinae: Pterinoxylini)
Author
Hennemann, Frank H.
Author
Conle, Oskar V.
Author
Valero, Pablo
0000-0002-5471-3458
Author
Nishida, Kenji
0000-0002-6547-4704
kenji.nishida@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-11-14
5208
1
1
72
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5208.1.1
journal article
188712
10.11646/zootaxa.5208.1.1
0121aac5-c21f-46c1-a222-6917ee5e2e6f
1175-5326
7318962
FDBFF270-AF6B-45ED-9995-BB8D77DD372D
Tribe
Pterinoxylini Hennemann, Conle & Perez–Gelabert, 2016
Type
–genus:
Pterinoxylus
Serville, 1838: 226
.
Pterinoxylini
Hennemann, Conle & Perez-Gelabert, 2016: 11
, 28.
Haplopodini
Günther, 1953: 557
(in part).
Hesperophasmatini
Bradley & Galil, 1977: 188
(in part).
Phibalosomini (Sectio V: Phibalosomata)
Redtenbacher, 1908: 399
(in part).
The tribe
Pterinoxylini
was established by
Hennemann et al.(2016:28)
to contain solely the genus
Pterinoxylus
Serville, 1838
. These authors have presented a detailed description, a slightly adapted version of which is here reproduced as the generic description. While the presence of sensory areas on the probasisternum and profurcasternum are shared with
Hesperophasmatini
and support a sister-group relationship with this tribe, the presence of a stridulatory organ in the basal portion of the costal region of the alae is an autapomorphy of
Pterinoxylini
. Moreover, the anal fan of the alae in
Pterinoxylini
has a convex contour with the outer margin arched downwards when the wing is opened. Another autapomorphy of
Pterinoxylini
is represented bv the morphology of the eggs, which are characteristic for the elongate, alveolar capsule that has a peripheral polar excrescence and an operculum that bears a huge, hollow peripheral or crest-like excrescence on the outer margin. Furthermore,
Pterinoxylini
have a well-developed gula, which is reduced in members of
Hesperophasmatini
. Thus, based exclusively on morphological characters,
Hennemann et al. (2016)
were prompted to introduce an individual tribe for
Pterinoxylus
, suggested that the tribe
Haplopodini
might possibly be the sister-group of
Pterinoxylini
+
Hesperophasmatini
and hypothesized that these three tribes form a separate lineage within the subfamily
Cladomorphinae
sensu lato
(see
Hennemann et al., 2016: 181
, fig. 409).
The monophyly of this clade that comprises the aforementioned taxa was supported by a molecular approach by
Simon et al. (2019)
, which beyond that showed this Neotropical clade not to belong to the exceptionally New World Occidophasmata but to the Old World Oriophasmata. This result is in concordance with two recent and more comprehensive molecular approaches by
Bank & Bradler (2022)
and
Forni et al. (2022)
, which both render the clade as monophyletic and as a lineage of Old World
Phasmatodea
. There are however discrepancies between the morphological approach by
Hennemann et al. (2016)
, which places
Haplopodini
as sister to
Hesperophasmatini
+
Pterinoxylini
, and subsequent molecular approaches.
Bank & Bradler (2022)
and
Forni et al. (2022)
agree in that
Pterinoxylus
forms a well-supported clade together with two Central American genera of
Hesperophasmatini
(i.e.
Rhynchacris
Redtenbacher, 1908
and
Hypocyrtus
Redtenbacher, 1908
), but in both trees
Pterinoxylus
results as nested within
Hesperophasmatini
and not as sister to the all sampled Hesperophasmatini-genera. Although basically in accordance, the topologies between these two molecular studies slightly differ from each other: (
Hypocyrtus
+
Rhynchacris
) +
Pterinoxylus
according to
Bank & Bradler (2022)
and
Hypocyrtus
+ (
Rhynchacris
+
Pterinoxylus
) according to
Forni et al. (2022)
. These and other discrepancies between the results of morphological and molecular approaches certainly deserve more detailed evaluation and should be explicitly addressed by forthcoming studies.