Rakaphyllium

Females of Rakaphyllium reach a body length of 80 to 92 millimetres (3.1 to 3.6 in) and a maximum abdominal width of 41 to 48 millimetres (1.6 to 1.9 in). Males of Rakaphyllium schultzei have a body length of about 59 millimetres (2.3 in) and a maximum abdominal width of 18.2 millimetres (0.72 in). Males of Rakaphyllium exsectum are unknown.^[2][3] Both sexes have lobes at the inner side of the tibae of the forelegs (interior protibial lobes) which do not span the full length of the shaft but are present only in the proximal half. On the outer sides of the forelegs' tibiae, there are two lobes, one at the proximal and one at the distal end. The outer tibial lobes of the mid and hind legs are markedly reduced or absent. If present, they are merely small spurs. The tegmina of females are of average length, reaching only to the fifth or sixth abdominal segment, while the tegmina of males are of medium length, reaching only to the second or third abdominal segment. Females possess rudimentary hindwings (alae). The hindwings of males are fully developed, oval-fan-shaped, and reach to the eighth to tenth abdominal segment. The abdomen reaches its maximum width approximately in the middle, with segments five or six being the widest. In both sexes, the anterior halves widen uniformly towards the middle segments. The shape of the posterior half of the abdomen varies considerably between species and sex. In Rakaphyllium schultzei, the posterior segments have a smooth edge, giving the abdomen an ovoid or pointed appearance, whereas in the female of Rakaphyllium exsectum, these segments are gently to strongly undulating, giving the abdomen a lobed appearance.

The autapomorphic characteristics of this genus are the exceptionally long gonapophyses of the eighth abdominal segment in females. They extend beyond the last abdominal segment by more than half of their length. In females of all other Phyllioidea, they only reach the tip of the abdomen or at most extend slightly beyond it. In males, the hindwing venation is unique within the Phyllioidea, as the radius vein of the hindwing is simple and not bifurcate as is seen in all other Phyllioidea genera.^[2]

The distribution of the genus Rakaphyllium is limited to New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Rakaphyllium schultzei has been recorded in both Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea. A male assigned to this species originates from Wokam Island, part of the Aru Islands. The only known specimen of Rakaphyllium exsectum, the female holotype, comes from the difficult-to-access Rawlinson Range on the Huon Gulf in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.^[2]