Bionomic notes on parthenogenetic females and a record of parasitism by Forcipomyia Meigen (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the stick insect Cladoxerus cryphaleus (Westwood) (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae)

Abstract

Stick insects (Phasmatodea) are among the least studied insect groups in Brazil. Although in recent years there has been an increase in the number of published studies on taxonomy and morphology of Brazilian stick insects, they remain very little-known concerning biological and bionomic aspects. From five females of Cladoxerus cryphaleus (Phasmatidae: Cladomorphinae) collected in the Iguaçu National Park, Paraná, Brazil, a captive colony of parthenogenetic females was started, based on which data on longevity, fertility, and viability of eggs of this species were recorded for the first time. After imaginal molting, the 21 females studied had an average longevity of 103.7 days. Each female produced on average 125.3 eggs, which had a hatching rate of 34.2%. In addition, we recorded a C. cryphaleus male nymph being parasitized by a biting midge of the subgenus Forcipomyia (Microhelea) (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). The male, in pre-imaginal instar and already parasitized, was collected in the municipality of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro.

Predation strategies of Harpactor angulosus (Lepeletier & Serville, 1825) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) on Cladomorphus phyllinus Gray, 1835 (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae) in captivity

“…This number of species is expected to be underestimated, representing less than half of the diversity of the Brazilian Phasmatodea (Zompro 2012) as a consequence of a small number of researchers studying stick insects in Brazil. The state of art of this group in the country was recently reviewed by Madeira-Ott et al (2020) and new initiatives have been raising efforts in order to broaden the knowledge of the Brazilian Phasmatodea, especially regarding taxonomy, morphology and biology (Chiquetto-Machado 2018;Heleodoro andRafael 2019, 2020;Chiquetto-Machado et al 2020Crispino et al 2020;Chiquetto-Machado and Cancello 2021;Ghirotto 2021;Heleodoro 2022).…”

Cladomorphus petropolisensis, a New Species of Stick Insect from the Atlantic Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…The Phasmatodea is one of the least-studied insect orders in Brazil; recently, the state of the art of this group was reviewed by Madeira-Ott et al [ 8 ]. New initiatives have been increasing the knowledge about this group, especially regarding taxonomy, morphology, biology, and ecology [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. However, several factors bring difficulties to the study of this order in Brazil, such as intraspecific morphological variation, the low number of specimens collected, and a lack of specialised literature [ 20 ].…”