Sipyloidea nelida Rentz and John, 1987

Common Name:

Delete this section if there is no common name.

Identification:

Males have fully developed wings, whereas females are micropterous, with small lanceolate wings, and incapable of flight.

(mm) Male Female
Body length 42.0-55.0 60.0-75.0
Head length 2.8-4.0 4.1-5.3
Tegmen length 2.1-3.2 2.5-3.9
Wing length 23.0-32.0 3.5-5.5
Cercus length 2.3-3.1 1.8-2.3
The body colour of both sexes is typically light to dark green. Two stripes and furrows may, or may not, be present on the posterior portion of the head. Rarely, the dorsum of the head and the base of the legs have an orange tinge. In both sexes, the tegmen is a small round pad with a dark brown or black patch dorsally, with or without grey spots. Typically, a tubercular protrusion is located dorsally on the tegmen and accommodates the basal portion of the wing sclerites ventrally. The legs are brownish or greenish brown, somewhat darker near the junction of the femur and tibia, but without any form of banding. Nocturnal.

Male

In the male the wing has a light grey-green anterior border (remigium). The remainder of the wing is pink to purple, this being somewhat variable; in every case the basal portion is much darker. The fully alate males are highly vagile and are commonly attracted to sources of light at night.

Male wing greenish grey along anterior border, pinkish otherwise. Subgenital plate short, apex broad, without notch; vomer stout, robust, apical shoulder broad, tooth short, stout, surface densely and regularly shagreened. Tenth tergite with teeth small and moderate in number. Cercus elongate and very slender.

Female

The tiny female wing is grey or greenish grey on the remigium. Dorsally it is inconspicuous, but when an individual is disturbed it spreads its wings and reveals the intense, dark rosy pink coloration of the vannus.

Female wing dorsally green, remainder intensely rosy pink. Wings elongate, narrow, lanceolate, not touching on the midline; internal margin (i.e. posterior margin of the remigium) convex. Subgenital plate elongate, narrow, apically subacute. Cercus elongate, only basally concealed by 10th tergite.

Eggs

The eggs of this species are especially unique in that they are enclosed in two thin membranes. Shortly after deposition, the membranes rupture and a system of tubules in the operculum evert, forming a cluster of stellate hairs resembling the bead of a dandelion. These are connected to the egg and transport water to inhibit the eggs from desiccating.

The females oviposit on the Acacia plant on which they live; eggs are laid in cracks in the bark of the host plant.

Habitat:

Inhabits the dry interior of the continent, where it lives on Mulga, Acacia aneura. Nocturnal. During the day, males and females hang motionless in the shelter of the leaves of their host plant.

Similar Species:

The other members of the Nelida group: Sipyloidea similis and Sipyloidea ovabdita.

Rearing Notes:

Rentz and John reared this species in the laboratory for cytological studies. Few details were given. They were all successfully fed and reared on Acacia longifolia var. soforae (Labill) F. Muell.

For a stick insect with body length 55mm, to keep 2 adult females, you need a cage at least 250mm high, 120mm deep and 120mm wide.

Range:

W plateau, SA, WA

Status:

It is not known if this species is endangered, as there is insufficient sighting history.

References


Copyright © 2000-2003 Peter Miller
This page was last changed 20-Sep-2006.
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