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Phasmid Studies 21
Checklist of stick insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea) of North Amer-
ica, with three new records for Nuevo León, México
Manuel de Luna
Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León campus Linares, Carretera
Nacional 45 S/N, C.P.67700, Linares, Nuevo León, México.
scolopendra94@gmail.com
Abstract
An updated checklist of stick insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea) of Canada, the USA and México is pre-
sented, including 105 species grouped in 21 genera and seven families. Geographical records at state
(México and the USA) and province (Canada) levels from the literature are provided for most spe-
cies. New records for Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae Rehn & Hebard, 1909, Megaphasma
denticrus (Stål, 1875) and Parabacillus coloradus (Scudder, 1893) are also made for the state of Nuevo
León, México.
Key words
Canada, Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae, Diapheromeridae, Heteronemiidae, Megaphasma
denticrus, Parabacillus coloradus, USA
Listado de insectos palo (Insecta: Phasmatodea) de Norteamé-
rica, con tres nuevos registros para Nuevo León, México
Resumen
Se presenta un listado de insectos palo (Insecta: Phasmatodea) de Canadá, EE. UU. y México, siendo
registradas 105 especies agrupadas en 21 géneros y siete familias. Se proveen registros geográcos a
nivel de estado (México y EE.UU.) y provincia (Canadá) provenientes de la literatura para la mayoría
de las especies. También se hacen nuevos registros de Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae Rehn
& Hebard, 1909, Megaphasma denticrus (Stål, 1875) y Parabacillus coloradus (Scudder, 1893) para el
estado de Nuevo León, México.
Introduction
Phasmatodea are terrestrial and mostly nocturnal herbivores, which have a predominantly tropical
distribution; they rely heavily on imitating various parts of plants in order to avoid detection from
predators (Bradler Buckley, 2018), although some species which have strong chemical defences can
show aposematic colorations (Hoskisson, 2000).
America, a continent conformed by two contrasting biogeographical regions, has a very diverse phas-
mid fauna. However, the diversity of stick insects in these two regions is not equal, being higher in the
Neotropical realm (roughly, Central America, South America, the West Indies, and the southern por-
tion of México) than in the Nearctic realm (roughly, Canada, the USA and central and northern Mé-
xico, including the Baja California peninsula) (Bradler Buckley, 2018). e North American region,
integrated by Canada, the USA and México, shows a mixture of both Neotropical and Nearctic taxa.
A list of the species found in Canada and the USA can be found in Arment (2006), and a list of the
species found in México can be found in López-Mora & Llorente-Bousquets (2018). e latter does
not include state records and in order to improve this, an updated checklist for the species of stick
insects of North America is provided, including state (for México and the USA) and province (for
Canada) records from the literature. New records are also made for three species of stick insects from
the Mexican state of Nuevo León.
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Phasmid Studies 21
Methodology
e following works were consulted for the making of the checklist: Arakelian (2008), Arment (2006),
Brock (1998, 1999), Brock et al. (2016), Caudell (1902, 1903, 1913), Conle et al. (2007), Escoto-Rocha
et al. 2013, Gorochov & Berezin (2008), Headrick & Wilen, 2011, Hebard (1922, 1932, 1934a, 1934b,
1937, 1942), Hennemann & Conle (2012a, 2012b), Hennemann et al. (2016), Law & Crespi (2002),
López-Mora & Llorente-Bousquets (2018), López-Mora & Martínez-Cervantes (2021), Mariño
& Márquez (1983), Miskelly & Paiero (2019), Otte (1978), Redtenbacher (1906, 1907, 1908), Rehn
(1904a, 1904b, 1909), Rehn & Hebard (1909a, 1909b, 1909c), Rueda-Salazar & Cano-Santana (2009),
Sandoval & Vickery (1996, 1999), Scudder (1901), Shelford (1908), Stidham & Stidham (2018), Vick-
ery (1993, 1997), Vickery & Sandoval (1997, 1999, 2001) and Zompro (2000, 2001a, 2001b, 2005).
e three new records of stick insects here presented are from collections carried out in dierent
localities in the state of Nuevo León; all the specimens were caught manually and are deposited in
the entomological lab of the Facultad de Ciencias Forestales (FCF) of the Universidad Autónoma
de Nuevo León (UANL) located in Linares, Nuevo León, México. e genus (and subgenus) of the
specimens was determined using the keys present in López-Mora & Llorente-Bousquets (2018); and
the species were later determined by comparing the specimens to the descriptions of the species of
their respective genus or subgenus: Megaphasma (Cadell, 1903: 878; Zompro, 2001a: 212), Parabacil-
lus (Caudell, 1902; Hebard, 1934b) and Rhabdoceratites (Hebard, 1932: 219, 1942: 293; Rehn & He-
bard, 1909b: 126).
Results
I. Checklist of North American stick insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea)
In the listing, “?” is used when a state or a more precise locality has not been mentioned for the species
e.g. “Mexiko” as in the case of Bacteria foliolata Redtenbacher, 1908; it is also used when the locality
given is deemed too generic to be associated with any one state e.g. “Montes mexicani” as in the case
of Pseudosermyle tolteca (Saussure, 1859). “*” is used when the literature (Arment, 2006) mentions
that the state record is dubious. And “**” is used for the new state records.
Family Diapheromeridae Kirby, 1904
Genus Bacteria Berthold, 1827
1. Bacteria aetolus Westwood, 1859 México (Sinaloa)
2. Bacteria foliolata Redtenbacher, 1908 México (?)
3. Bacteria frustrans Redtenbacher, 1908 México (Colima)
4. Bacteria horni Redtenbacher, 1908 México (?)
5. Bacteria nova Redtenbacher, 1908 México (?)
6. Bacteria quadrispinosa Redtenbacher, 1908 México (Sinaloa)
7. Bacteria reclusa (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (?)
Genus Bostra Stål, 1875
8. Bostra jaliscensis Rehn, 1904 México (Jalisco)
9. Bostra margaritata Redtenbacher, 1908 México (?)
10. Bostra procoppi Redtenbacher, 1908 México (?)
11. Bostra saussurei Redtenbacher, 1908 México (?)
12. Bostra similis Redtenbacher, 1908 México (Jalisco)
13. Bostra tridenticulata Redtenbacher, 1908 México (Guerrero)
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Genus Diapheromera Gray, 1835
14. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) arena Stidham & Stidham, 2018 USA (New Mexico, Texas)
15. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) arizonensis Caudell, 1903 USA (Arizona, Texas)
16. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) calcarata (Burmeister, 1838) México (Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sonora)
17. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) carolina Scudder, 1901 USA (Georgia, North Carolina, South Car-
olina)
18. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) erythropleura Hebard, 1923 México (Sinaloa)
19. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) femorata (Say, 1824) Canada (Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec), and
USA (Alamaba, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mis-
sissippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Caro-
lina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington)
20. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) kevani Vickery, 1997 México (Baja California, Baja California Sur)
21. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) nitens Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907 México (?)
22. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) persimilis Caudell, 1904 USA (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Ne-
braska, Oklahoma, Texas)
23. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) petita Vickery, 1997 México (Baja California, Baja California Sur)
24. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) tamaulipensis Rehn, 1909 USA (New Mexico, Texas) and México
(Coahuila, Tamaulipas)
25. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) torquata Hebard, 1934 USA (Texas)
26. Diapheromera (Diapheromera) velii Walsh, 1864 USA (Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisi-
ana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas) and México
(Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí)
• Diapheromera (Diapheromera) velii eucnemis Hebard, 1937 USA (New Mexico, Texas) and
México (Nuevo León)
• Diapheromera (Diapheromera) velii velii Walsh, 1864 USA (Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas),
México (Coahuila, San Luis Potosí)
27. Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) beckeri Kaup, 1871 México (?)
28. Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae Rehn & Hebard, 1909 USA (Arizona, New Mexico, Tex-
as) and México (Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Nuevo León**)
Genus Dubiophasma Zompro, 2001
29. Dubiophasma longicarinatum Zompro, 2001 México (Oaxaca)
Genus Manomera Rehn & Hebard, 1907
30. Manomera blatchleyi (Caudell, 1905) USA (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan-
sas, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wis-
consin)
• Manomera blatchleyi atlantica Davis, 1923 USA (New York)
• Manomera blatchleyi blatchleyi (Caudell, 1905) USA (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Virginia, Wisconsin)
31. Manomera brachypyga Rehn & Hebard, 1914 USA (Florida)
32. Manomera tenuescens (Scudder, 1900) USA (Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina)
Genus Megaphasma Caudell, 1903
33. Megaphasma denticrus (Stål, 1875) USA (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Ken-
tucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Misouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin) and México
(Nuevo León**, Veracruz)
34. Megaphasma furcatum (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Guerrero)
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Phasmid Studies 21
Genus Ocnophila Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907
35. Ocnophila ciliata Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907 México (Guerrero)
36. Ocnophila submutica Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907 México (Baja California)
Genus Phanocles Stål, 1875
37. Phanocles burkartii (De Saussure, 1868) México (Veracruz)
38. Phanocles zehntneri (Redtenbacher, 1908) México (Veracruz)
Genus Pseudosermyle Caudell, 1903
39. Pseudosermyle arbuscula (Rehn, 1902) USA (California)
40. Pseudosermyle carinulata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Ciudad de México, Estado de
México, Durango, Guerrero, Puebla)
41. Pseudosermyle catalinae Rentz & Weissman, 1981 USA (California)
42. Pseudosermyle chorreadero Conle et al. 2007 México (Chiapas)
43. Pseudosermyle claviger Conle et al. 2007 México (Veracruz)
44. Pseudosermyle elongata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit)
45. Pseudosermyle godmani (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Guerrero, Jalisco)
46. Pseudosermyle incongruens (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Veracruz)
47. Pseudosermyle inconspicua (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (?)
48. Pseudosermyle neptuna (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Baja California Sur)
49. Pseudosermyle olmeca (De Saussure, 1870) México (?)
50. Pseudosermyle phalangiphora (Rehn, 1907) México (Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz,
Yucatán)
51. Pseudosermyle procera Conle et al. 2007 México (Veracruz)
52. Pseudosermyle straminea (Scudder, 1900) USA (Arizona, Arkansas*, California, Colorado, Illi-
nois*, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah)
53. Pseudosermyle striatus (Burmeister, 1838) USA (Texas*) and México (Veracruz)
54. Pseudosermyle strigata (Scudder, 1900) USA (Alamaba, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Texas) and México (Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Tamaulipas)
55. Pseudosermyle strigiceps (Kaup, 1871) México (?)
56. Pseudosermyle tenuis Rehn & Hebard, 1909 USA (Texas)
57. Pseudosermyle tolteca (De Saussure, 1859) México (?)
58. Pseudosermyle tridens (Burmeister, 1838) México (Aguascalientes, Ciudad de México, Guerrero,
Jalisco, Morelos, Nayarit)
59. Pseudosermyle truncata Caudell, 1903 USA (Arizona, California)
Genus Sermyle Stål, 1875
60. Sermyle bidens (Kaup, 1871) México (Puebla)
61. Sermyle eleganitor (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Guerrero)
62. Sermyle mexicana (De Saussure, 1859) USA (Texas) and México (Veracruz)
63. Sermyle saussurei Stål, 1875 México (?)
64. Sermyle tuberculata (Caudell, 1904) USA (Texas)
Family Heteronemiidae Rehn, 1904
Genus Heteronemia Gray, 1835
65. Heteronemia contracta (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Jalisco)
66. Heteronemia foliata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Guerrero)
67. Heteronemia forcipata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (?)
68. Heteronemia oaxacae Hebard, 1932 México (Oaxaca)
69. Heteronemia unidentatus (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) México (Jalisco, Veracruz)
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Genus Parabacillus Caudell, 1903
70. Parabacillus coloradus (Scudder, 1893) USA (Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexi-
co, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming) and México (Aguascalientes, Michoacán,
Nuevo León**)
71. Parabacillus hesperus Hebard, 1934 USA (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico*, Oregon,
Texas*, Utah)
72. Parabacillus palmeri (Caudell, 1902) México (Durango, Jalisco)
Family Lonchodidae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893
Genus Carausius Stål, 1875
73. Carausius morosus Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907 introduced to USA (California)
Family Phasmatidae Leach, 1815
Genus Haplopus Burmeister, 1838
74. Haplopus scabricollis (Gray, 1835) USA (Florida)
Genus Hypocyrtus Redtenbacher, 1908
75. Hypocyrtus postpositus Redtenbacher, 1908 México (Oaxaca, Veracruz)
76. Hypocyrtus scythrus (Westwood, 1859) México (Oaxaca, Veracruz)
Genus Medauroidea Zompro, 2000
77. Medauroidea extradentata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) introduced to USA (California)
Family Prisopodidae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893
Genus Prisopus Peltier de Saint Fargeau & Seville, 1827
78. Prisopus berosus Westwood, 1859 México (Oaxaca, Yucatán)
Family Pseudophasmatidae Rehn, 1904
Genus Agrostia Redtenbacher, 1906
79. Agrostia rugicollis (Gray, 1835) México (Colima)
Genus Anisomorpha Gray, 1835
80. Anisomorpha buprestoides (Stol, 1813) USA (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas)
81. Anisomorpha ferruginea (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805) USA (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska*, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, Texas and Virginia)
82. Anisomorpha paromalus Westwood, 1859 México (Yucatán)
Genus Autolyca Stål, 1875
83. Autolyca elena Gorochov & Berezin, 2008 México (Chiapas)
84. Autolyca pallidicornis Stal, 1875 México (Chiapas)
Family Timematidae Caudell, 1903
Genus Timema Scudder, 1895
85. Timema bartmani Vickery & Sandoval, 1997 USA (California)
86. Timema boharti Tinkham, 1942 USA (California)
87. Timema californicum Scudder, 1895 USA (California)
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88. Timema chumash Hebard, 1920 USA (California)
89. Timema comani Sandoval & Vickery, 1999 USA (Arizona)
90. Timema cristinae Vickery, 1993 USA (California)
91. Timema dorotheae Strohecker, 1966 USA (Arizona)
92. Timema douglasi Sandoval & Vickery, 1996 USA (California, Oregon)
93. Timema genevievae Rentz, 1978 USA (California)
94. Timema knulli Stroheckeri, 1951 USA (California)
95. Timema landelsense Vickery & Sandoval, 2001 USA (California)
96. Timema monikense Vickery & Sandoval, 1998 USA (California)
97. Timema morongense Vickery, 2001 USA (California)
98. Timema nakipa Vickery, 1993 México (Baja California)
99. Timema nevadense Strohecker, 1966 USA (California, Nevada)
100. Timema petita Vickery & Sandoval, 2001 USA (California)
101. Timema podura Strohecker, 1936 USA (California) and México (Baja California)
102. Timema poppense Vickery & Sandoval, 1999 USA (California)
103. Timema ritense Hebard, 1937 USA (Arizona)
104. Timema shepardi Vickery & Sandoval, 1999 USA (California)
105. Timema tahoe Vickery, 1993 USA (Nevada)
II. New records for Nuevo León, México
Megaphasma denticrus (Stål, 1875)
Diapheromeridae
Figures 1-2
FCF-PHASM001: 5 males, 5 females from Cerro de la Silla (25º37’51.6”N, 100º12’27.7”W), munici-
pality of Guadalupe. Collected during mating in 12 VII 2018 by Manuel de Luna and Roberto García
Barrios at around 14:00 hr, on yellow zapote Casimiroa greggii (Rutaceae).
See discussion.
Figure 1. Megaphasma denticrus male (FCF-PHASMA-001): A, dorsal habitus. B, lateral view of
head. C, lateral view of abdominal apex. Scale bar = 10mm.
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Phasmid Studies 21
Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae Rehn & Hebard, 1909
Diapheromeridae
Figures 3-4
FCF-PHASM002: 15 males, 10 females from La Carroza (26º6’27.14”N, 100º41’56.18”W), municipal-
ity of Mina. Collected during mating/feeding on 12 X 2020 by Manuel de Luna and Roberto García
Barrios at around 19:00 hr, on creosote bush Larrea tridentata (Zygophyllaceae).
is represents the rst recorded instance of the species in the state.
Parabacillus coloradus (Scudder, 1893)
Heteronemiidae
Figure 5
FCF-PHASM003: 1 female from Sierra de Nacataz (25º45’56.9”N, 100º38’33.7”W), municipality of
García. Collected in 7 XI 2020 by Manuel de Luna at around 14:00, on the ground, alone.
is represents the rst recorded instance of the species in the state; see discussion.
Discussion
e publication with records of M. denticrus and P. tridens for the Mexican state of Tamaulipas (Bar-
rientos-Lozano et al., 2008b: 10 as Diapheromera denticus, Megaphasma dentricus and Pseudosermigle
tridens tridens, respectively) was not peer-reviewed and lacked physical or photographical vouchers
(Luna & Hernández-Baltazar, 2020: 161), for that reason, it was not taken into account in the present
listing. Megaphasma denticrus also appeared in a listing of insects from the Mexican state of Nuevo
León (Quiroz-Martínez et al., 1999: 87 as Megaphasma denticus), however, that listing was also not
peer-reviewed and lacked vouchers; nonetheless, several specimens of M. denticrus from Nuevo León
were collected and are presented in this article (see results), conrming its presence in the state.
e female specimen of Parabacillus was determined as P. coloradus given its geographical distribu-
Figure 2. Megaphasma denticrus female (FCF-PHASMA-001): A, dorsal habitus. B, lateral view of
head. C, lateral view of abdominal apex. Scale bar = 10mm.
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Phasmid Studies 21
tion (Hebard, 1934b). Several searches were carried out to nd more specimens, specially the male,
however, they were not successful. A future publication dealing with the adult male of this particular
locality is desirable.
Figure 3. Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae male (FCF-PHASMA-002): A, dorsal habitus. B,
lateral view of head. C, lateral view of abdominal apex. Scale bar = 10mm.
Figure 4. Diapheromera (Rhabdoceratites) covilleae female (FCF-PHASMA-002): A, dorsal habitus. B,
lateral view of head. C, lateral view of abdominal apex. Scale bar = 10mm.
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Phasmid Studies 21
Diapheromera (D.) femorata, a very common and widespread Nearctic species, was included in the
list of López-Mora & Llorente-Bousquets (2018: 48, 75), citing Barrientos-Lozano et al. (2008a) as
a source; however, that was a preliminary work and in a later publication (Barrientos-Lozano et al.,
2008b), D. (D.) femorata was not mentioned. Scudder (1901) had mentioned D. (D.) femorata for
México, but gave no specic locality. Given that there are no other formal records of the species for
México, D. (D.) femorata is here excluded from the Mexican phasmid fauna, although it could be pre-
sent in the northernmost states; further research could conrm its presence in the country. On the
other hand, P. strigata was not included in the aforementioned listing, despite having mentions for the
Mexican states of Aguascalientes and Jalisco (Escoto-Rocha et al. 2013) as well as Tamaulipas (Hebard,
1932), so it is included in the present listing for México.
ere are records of D. (R.) covilleae from the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve (Rivera, 2006: 145 as Dia-
pheromera covillae), however, this reserve is located in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Durango and
Coahuila, and the precise collection sites of D. (R.) covilleae within the reserve were not disclosed. Ef-
forts to contact the author and the curator of the collection where the specimens had been deposited
were fruitless, therefore, this record was not added to the list.
Carausius morosus is a predominantly parthenogenetic Asian species which is used as a laboratory
animal and is also commonly kept as a pet, this species has established breeding populations in Cali-
fornia, USA (Arakelian, 2008; Brock, 1999; Headrick & Wilen, 2011), becoming one of two exotic
species of stick insects that can be found in North America, the other being M. extradentata, which
can also be found in California, USA (Krauss et al. 2009).
Type specimens of Ocnophiloidea regularis (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) have been labelled from
México (Brock, 1998), however, these specimens are lost and are not traceable; following López-Mora
& Llorentes-Bousquets (2018: 74) and unless new information is published regarding the presence
of this species in México, it should not be included as part of the Mexican phasmid fauna. Paraca-
lynda picta (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907) has also been mentioned for México, however, Henne-
Figure 5. Parabacillus coloradus female (FCF-PHASMA-003): A, dorsal habitus. B, lateral view of
head. C, lateral view of abdominal apex. Scale bar = 5mm.
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mann & Conle (2012a) mention that the Mexican specimen was incorrectly identied (López-Mora &
Llorentes-Bousquets, 2018: 74), therefore, the species was also not added to the listing of the present
article.
Following López-Mora & Llorentes-Bousquets (2018: 75), Heteronemia mexicana Gray, 1835 is not
listed for México in the present article, as there is evidence that it was described from mislabelled
specimens from South America (Zompro, 2001b). Zompro (2001b) revised the type species of Heter-
onemia and restricted the genus to Chile, however, the generic anities of the rest of the species was
not claried; a revision of the type material of H. contracta, H. foliata, H. forcipata, H. oaxacae, and H.
unidentatus is needed to corroborate if they actually belong to Heteronemia, this would also conrm
if the genus is indeed present in North America.
Other species whose records for México are dubious are: Agrostia cinerea (Oliver, 1792) (Shelford,
1908: 374 as Perliodes grisescens); Ceroys perfoliatus (Gray, 1835) (Shelford, 1908: 366); Hesperophas-
ma planulum (Westwood, 1859) (Shelford, 1908: 357 as Phantasis planula); Libethra brevipes Brunner
von Wattenwyl, 1907 (Shelford, 1908: 345); Paraphanocles keratosqueleton (Olivier, 1792) (Shelford,
1908: 364 as Bacteria bicornis); Pseudophasma blanchardi (Westwood, 1859) (Shelford, 1908: 372 as
Phasma annulipes); Pseudophasma perezi (Bolívar [Y Urrutia], 1881) (Shelford, 1908: 372); and Pygi-
rhynchus subfoliatus Audiner-Serville, 1838 (Shelford, 1908: 366). None of the aforementioned species
were included in the latest revised list of Mexican species (López-Mora & Llorente-Bousquets, 2018),
nor are they included in the one presented in this article.
e three American states with the highest diversity of stick insects are California with 25 species (in-
cluding the two introduced ones), Texas with 19 species, and Kansas and Arizona each with 11 species
(Fig. 6); Alaska, Idaho and Montana do not count with any record of a species of stick insect (Fig. 6).
e three Mexican states with the highest diversity of Phasmatodea are Veracruz with 12 species, Jalis-
co with ten species and Guerrero with nine species (Fig. 7); in contrast, the state of Guanajuato only
has a record of an undescribed species of Pseudosermyle (López-Mora & Martínez-Cervantes, 2021),
while Hidalgo, Querétaro, Tlaxcala and Zacatecas do not have any formal records of a species of stick
insect (Fig. 7), this undoubtedly is due to the lack of sampling, rather than the absence of phasmids in
those states. Canada has only one species, which is found in the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and
Quebec, being apparently absent from the rest (Miskelly & Paiero, 2019).
While the stick insects of the USA and Canada seem to be well known, the phasmid fauna of México
is very poorly studied, mainly due to the diculty of collecting them (López-Mora & Martínez-Cer-
vantes, 2021), meaning they are oen undersampled, unless specically looking for them; the hard-
ships that comes in rearing them in the laboratory, a task necessary to study them in greater detail, also
play a role in them being understudied; nally, there seems to be a general disinterest from researchers
towards groups that are not of medical or economic importance, which further enhances the problem.
Conclusion
e region of North America has a phasmid fauna composed of 105 species (and four subspecies)
grouped in 21 genera and seven families. Canada has only one species of stick insect, D. (D.) femorata
(Diapheromeridae). e USA has 49 species (and four subspecies) grouped in eleven genera and six
families, including two exotic species. Finally, México has the greatest diversity among these coun-
tries, with 65 species (and two subspecies) grouped in 17 genera and six families.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Roberto García Barrios, Daniel Montoya Ferrer and Jorge Madrazo Fanti for
helping me during eld work. My gratitude also extends to Raymundo Vigil Leal and a colleague and
true phasmid enthusiast, Rodrigo Díaz Martínez, both who helped me improve the initial dra of the
manuscript. I also want to thank the anonymous reviewers for their time and helpful comments.
100
Phasmid Studies 21
Figure 6. Number of species of stick insects registered for each state of the USA (not including Ha-
waii).
101
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Figure 7. Number of species of stick insects registered for each state of México.
102
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