Novoplectron

Novoplectron
Adult female Chatham Island wētā
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Rhaphidophoridae
Subfamily: Macropathinae
Genus: Novoplectron
Richards, 1958
Species

See text.

Novoplectron is a monotypic genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to the Chatham Islands.[1] Cave wētā are nocturnal, wingless crickets that occupy humid habitats.[2] Novoplectron wētā generally live under stones and in burrows of seabirds, such as broad-billed prions, mutton birds and storm petrels.[3]

Distribution & Taxonomy

The genus Novoplectron have only been recorded on the Chatham Islands (a group of offshore islands of New Zealand).[4] These wētā exist alongside Talitropsis crassicruris, another New Zealand endemic species, on Mangere, Pitt, Rangatira and The Sisters islands.[5] However, there is an absence of Novoplectron wētā on the Chatham main island.[5] (See distribution map https://wetageta.massey.ac.nz/Text%20files/NOVOPLECTRON2014.html).

Several wētā specimens from the genus Pleioplectron were collected from the Chatham Islands in 1958.[6] After examining them, Richards discovered that the Chatham Island endemic species Pleioplectron serratum Hutton, 1904 displayed five major morphological differences that were not found in other species of the genus Pleioplectron.[3][6] It was determined that this species did not belong to any genus of Rhaphidophoridae that had been previously recognised.[6] This led to a new genus, Novoplectron Richards, 1958, being described, and the Chatham Island species was reassigned as Novoplectron serratum (Hutton, 1904).[3][6] This Chatham Island Rhaphidophoridae is sister to the Bounty Island species Ischyroplectron isolatum.[7]

Morphology

Wētā of the genus Novoplectron have stocky bodies that can be up to 26 millimetres long and are thinly covered with short setae.[3][4] They have very long, tapering antennae, which are about three times the length of their body.[3] Some sections of their thin legs are armed with variable numbers of spines.[3][5] The subgenital plate of females tends to be broad and short with a wide distal margin.[8] While males tend to have a short triangular subgenital plate that has a long abrupt taper and curved at the apex.[8]

Diet

Cave wētās are predominantly scavengers that feed on animal and plant material found within the caves they inhabit.[9] Although, they will forage in the surrounding area if food becomes scarce inside the cave.[9] The diet of Novoplectron mainly consists of dead seabirds.[4] However, they have also been known to eat other types of animal and plant material.[4]

Species

References

  1. ^ "genus Novoplectron Richards, 1958: Orthoptera Species File". orthoptera.speciesfile.org. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  2. ^ Allegrucci, G., Trewick, S.A., Fortunato, A., Carchini, G., Sbordoni, V. (2010). "Cave crickets and cave weta (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae) from the southern end of the world: a molecular phylogeny test of biogeographical hypotheses". Journal of Orthoptera Research. 19 (1): 121–130. doi:10.1665/034.019.0118.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Richards, A.M (1958). "Revision of the Rhaphidophoridae (Orthoptera) of New Zealand. Part 1. The Rhaphidophoridae of the Chatham Islands 1954 Expedition". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 86: 263–274.
  4. ^ a b c d "Novoplectron". wetageta.massey.ac.nz. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  5. ^ a b c Trewick, Steven A. (1999). "A new weta from the Chatham Islands (Orthoptera: Raphidophoridae)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 29 (2): 165–173. Bibcode:1999JRSNZ..29..165T. doi:10.1080/03014223.1999.9517590. ISSN 0303-6758.
  6. ^ a b c d Hegg, Danilo; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steven A. (2019). "Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species". European Journal of Taxonomy (577). doi:10.5852/ejt.2019.577. ISSN 2118-9773.
  7. ^ Dowle, Eddy J.; Trewick, Steven A.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2024). "Fossil-calibrated phylogenies of Southern cave wētā show dispersal and extinction confound biogeographic signal". Royal Society Open Science. 11 (2) 231118. Bibcode:2024RSOS...1131118D. doi:10.1098/rsos.231118. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 10864783. PMID 38356874.
  8. ^ a b Ward, D.F (1997). "A new generic key to the New Zealand cave weta genera (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)". New Zealand Natural Sciences. 23: 13–17.
  9. ^ a b Richards, Aola M. (1961). "Some Observations on New Zealand Cave-Wetas". Tuatara. 9 (2): 80–83.


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