Pachyrhamma
Genus of orthopteran insects
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pachyrhamma is a genus of cave wētā (New Zealand cave cricket, tokoriro) in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand.[2] All species are nocturnal and most use cave habitats.
| Pachyrhamma | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Ensifera |
| Family: | Rhaphidophoridae |
| Subfamily: | Macropathinae |
| Genus: | Pachyrhamma Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 |
| Species[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy
The genus was first described by Swiss geologist and entomologist Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl in 1888.[3] Cook et al. (2010) found that Gymnoplectron and Turbottoplectron are synonymised with Pachyrhamma.[2] They follow W.F. Kirby (1906) and Karny (1937) in treating Pachyrhamma as a neuter noun.
Ecology
Members of the genus are detritivorous scavengers that inhabit dark, damp refugia such as hollow logs, overhangs and caves during the day.[4] They become more active at night and venture into the surrounding undergrowth to forage.[4] They consume various organic matter such as plant seeds, fungi, animal droppings, and dead animal tissue.[4] They will cannibalise the remains of other dead weta, and may also attack still-living cave weta while they are vulnerable during ecdysis (shedding their exoskeleton).[4]
Species
When Pachyrhamma is treated as a neuter noun, species names have a neuter suffix, e.g. -ceras rather than -cera, and -ense rather than -ensis.
- Pachyrhamma acanthoceras Milligan, 1926
- Pachyrhamma cavernae (Hutton, 1900)
- Pachyrhamma chopardi Karny, 1935
- Pachyrhamma delli (Richards, 1954)
- Pachyrhamma edwardsii (Scudder, 1869)
- Pachyrhamma fusca Richards, 1959
- Pachyrhamma giganteum (Richards, 1962)
- Pachyrhamma longicauda Richards, 1959
- Pachyrhamma longipes (Colenso, 1886)
- Pachyrhamma ngongotahaensis (Richards, 1961)
- Pachyrhamma spinosa (Richards, 1961)
- Pachyrhamma tuarti (Richards, 1961)
- Pachyrhamma uncata Richards, 1959
- Pachyrhamma unicolor (Salmon, 1948)
- Pachyrhamma waipuensis Richards, 1960
- Pachyrhamma waitomoensis Richards, 1958