Pachyrhamma acanthoceras

Pachyrhamma acanthoceras,[1] known as the Auckland cave wētā, is a large species of cave wētā endemic to New Zealand.[2] It is known only from old water-works tunnels in the Waitākere Ranges[1] west of Auckland.[2] Large groups can be found in the tunnels,[2] but there is no social life.[3]

Pachyrhamma acanthoceras
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Rhaphidophoridae
Genus: Pachyrhamma
Species:
P. acanthoceras
Binomial name
Pachyrhamma acanthoceras
(Milligan, 1926)
Synonyms

Description

Their bodies are 3.5 centimetres long. They have long hind legs and antennae and their total length is 25 centimetres.[2] Males have large spines (fused setae) on their antennae.[1] The adult female is distinguished from the male by having a slightly curved, scimitar-like ovipositor that extends from the rare of her abdomen[3] and is almost as long as her body.[2]

They are a chocolate-brown colour with paler back edges to their segments that give them a banded appearance.[2]

Taxonomy

P. acanthoceras are closely related to P. waipuense and P. waitomoense and they could be treated as a single species.[1]

Cook et al. (2010) follow W.F. Kirby (1906) and Karny (1937) in treating Pachyrhamma as a neuter noun, and thus use a neuter suffix for the species name, i.e. acanthoceras rather than acanthocera.[1]

gollark: Oh. One of those things.
gollark: It might be a reset-something-else switch thing.
gollark: Can you manage 13.6 hours at least?
gollark: Well there you go.
gollark: 5 *years*?

References
  1. Cook, Lorraine D.; Trewick, Steven A.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Johns, Peter M. (2010). "Status of the New Zealand cave weta (Rhaphidophoridae) genera Pachyrhamma, Gymnoplectron and Turbottoplectron". Invertebrate Systematics. 24 (2): 131. doi:10.1071/IS09047. ISSN 1445-5226.
  2. Early, John (2009). Know your New Zealand ... native insects & spiders. New Holland. p. 64. ISBN 9781869662530.
  3. Richards, Aola M. (1961). "Some observations on New Zealand cave-wetas". Tuatara. 9 (2): 80–83. Retrieved 9 September 2017.


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