The Stick Insects of Colombia. A Catalogue and Bibliography with the descriptions of four new genera and 74 new species.

Abstract

Colombia is amongst the 17 megadiverse countries in the world mainly due to its privileged position in northwestern South America and its highly complex topography. The latter includes the Andes and various types of environments ranging from tropical lowland rainforest over dwarf forest and Parámo to lowland savannas. Hence, it represents close to the optimum conditions for a high biodiversity and it is not surprising that also the stick insect fauna (order Phasmatodea) is apparently rich and highly diverse.
A considerable number of Phasmatodea from various museum collections in Colombia, the United States and Europe was available for examination. Extensive research and determination has shown this material to serve numerous new and precise records and as many as 74 species have proven to be as yet undescribed. These are here described and illustrated and raise the number of known Colombian species to 182, which however is certainly still far away from the true number of existing species. The surprisingly high number of new species emphasizes the great richness, but poor degree of exploration of the Colombian phasmid fauna and Colombia is here estimated to inherit some 300 species. Consequently, numerous species still await discovery and formal description. Several further supposedly new species are contained in the material at hand, but are not described, mostly because the unique specimens are without precise locality or incomplete and in poor condition.
In combination with the comprehensive taxonomic catalogue here presented, this work provides the necessary basis for future studies and is the first step towards a more sufficient exploration of the Colombian Phasmatodea. Only some 90 species were previously known from Colombia and the present study doubles the number to 182 species now recorded from Colombia. 74 new species are here described and illustrated, which belong to 31 distinct genera. As many as 19 species, 15 genera and one subgenus previously only known from neighbouring regions are recorded from Colombia for the first time. Descriptions and illustrations are provided for the previously unknown males or females of nine species. What concerns to taxonomic changes amongst Colombian species eleven new synonymies are detected, six of which are generic synonyms (syn. n.). 25 species are shown to have previously been misplaced and are transferred to other genera, resulting in 25 new combinations of generic and specific names (comb. n.) . Six species are transferred back to their original genus (stat. rev.). Four new genera are described, and three formerly misplaced species are transferred to either genus. Lectotypes are designated for 13 species, either to guarantee stability of the concerned names or confirming newly established synonymies.
The extensive material examined for this study is represented in various museum collections throughout Colombia, the United States and Europe as well as the author’s collections (see list of abbreviations below). It also includes all necessary and mostly historic type-material and has received much support from all responsible curators and staff of the corresponding museums and institutions. Type specimens of the 74 new species described in this book are deposited in the collections of ANDES-E (Bogotá), BMNH (London), CEBUC (Manizales), CEUA (Medellín), ICN (Bogotá), MEFLG (Medellín), MHN-UC (Manizales), MNCN (Madrid), MNHN (Paris), NHMW (Vienna) and coll. OC (Bolsterlang). Photographic work and measuring of specimens in Colombian collections was carried out by Yeisson Gutiérrez.
While most genera were extensively studied, the available material of some more speciose genera was researched in less detail and mainly restricted to identifying specimens of already described species. This particularly concerns to Isagoras Stål, 1875 and Libethra Stål, 1875 both of which are badly in need of detailed revision at the species level. Both genera contain species only known from a single sex or specimen without precise locality. A survey, new arrangement a redescription of Libethra Stål, 1875 is presented herein, which also covers the non-Colombian species, and represents a basis for a detailed revisional study of the genus. In addition to the description of new taxa, future studies should also aim the recognition of historic species in the more comprehensive representation now available. However, extensive collections throughout Colombia need to be conducted in order to re-discover historic species, defining their exact distribution, habitats, host-plants or biology and to trace the numerous so far unknown sexes and eggs of many species. It is hoped that this book will raise interest in the incredible natural history of this country and will encourage people to support the conservation of these fascinating insects in Colombia.