Three first records of stick insects attacking plants (Inseect: Phasmida) in Tibet

Abstract

Except for a few stick insects that are economically valuable, most species be considered to be forest pests, so it is extremely important to obtain plant host-use information of more stick insects. In this paper, the plant hosts of three species of stick insects were recorded for the first time. We also discovered these stick insects can feed upon the flowers or leaves of plants. Lopaphus unidentatus (Chen & He, 1995) (Phasmida: Lonchodidae) attacked Hypericum choisianum Wall. ex N. Robson, 1973 (Hypericaceae), Leurophasma dolichocercum Bi, 1995 (Phasmida: Aschiphasmatidae) attacked Antenoron filiforme (Thunb.) Roberty & Vautier, 1964 (Polygonaceae) and Megalophasma granulatum Bi, 1995 (Phasmida: Lonchodidae) attacked Debregeasia orientalis C. J. Chen, 1991 (Urticaceae). Finally, we were lucky enough to also obtain photographs of them mating and feeding.

Organization of the mitochondrial genome of Ramulus irregulatiter dentatus (Phasmatidae: Phasmatidae)

“…Except for those few species of stick insects beneficial to humans ( E.g., Phyllium celebium, P. siccifolium and P. sinensis ), most of the walking stick insects are typical phytophagous pests, which are very harmful to their hosts ( Xu et al, 2021b ). An outbreak of these insects will erode a whole mountain forest and can even wreak havoc on surrounding crops.…”

“…An outbreak of these insects will erode a whole mountain forest and can even wreak havoc on surrounding crops. However, most studies of Phasmatodea have focused on taxonomy ( Yang et al, 2021 ), biology ( Gao et al, 2020 ), morphology ( Everts, 2016 ), bionics ( Pan et al, 2021 ; Kobayashi et al, 2022 ), prevention and control ( Xu et al, 2021b ; Yano et al, 2021 ), but the genera of Phasmatodea within the Polyneoptera family, and the evolutionary relationship between them remain unclear, particularly for highly diverse arthropods.…”