Phasmid Names

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Phasmid Names

• Where they come from,
• who was first,
• and how to tell who came next.

by Phil Bragg.
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Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

• Carl Linnaeus founded the systems of scientific
  names that are used for naming plants and
  animals.
• The rules are similar, although the two systems
  are separate.

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The beginning 1758.

• The system for naming animals dates from 1758.
• This is the publication date of Linnaeus tenth
  edition of
• Systema Naturae.
• The plant system uses 1753 as the starting date.

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The phasmids

• Systema Naturae included three phasmids.
• All were placed in the genus Gryllus.
• They are now called
• Phasma gigas
• Pseudophasma phthisicum
• Phyllium siccifolium

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Knowing what they look like is a problem.
Phasma gigas The description translates
as Thorax cylindrical, rough, fore wings short,
legs spiny. Hind wings large. So what does it
look like ?

• The descriptions are very brief.
• They are in Latin.
• There are no illustrations.

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Phasma gigas
Left MaleRight Female
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Phyllium siccifolium (Linnaeus, 1758)
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How the names work

• The system is binomial.
• In other words, there are two names.

• Think of it in terms of a phone book entry.
• Surname first, then personal name.

• The generic name comes first, then the specific
  name.

You need both. There are lots of people called
Phil. There are quite a few called Bragg. There
is only one Phil Bragg. I see him in the mirror
every morning - and hes so good looking!
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Some quick rules

• The binomial name is also called the scientific
  name.
• The name should be in italics.
• The first letter of the Generic name is a
  capital.
• The specific name is all lower case letters.
• E.g. Heteropteryx dilatata.

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Diesbachia sophiae
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Genus species Author(s), Date
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Diesbachia sophiae Redtenbacher, 1908
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Asceles margaritatus Redtenbacher, 1908
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More quick rules

• The person who first describes and names a
  species is the Author of that name.
• The authors name is put after the scientific
  name not in italics.
• The year it was first described goes after the
  authors name with a comma in between.
• E.g. Heteropteryx dilatata Parkinson, 1798.

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Lonchodes thami Bragg, 2001
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Phenacephorus sepilokensis Bragg, 1994
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When the name changes use brackets
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Aretaon asperrimus (Redtenbacher, 1906)
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Haaniella echinata (Redtenbacher, 1906)
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sp., spp., ssp., and sspp.

• sp. Species (singular). Used when you know the
  genus but the species is not known.
• spp. Species (plural). Used when you have more
  than one species.

• ssp. Subspecies. Sometimes a species occurs in
  two (or more) different forms they are not quite
  different enough to be considered a different
  species, but heading that way. They are given a
  trinomial name (genus, species, subspecies).
• sspp. You are talking about a mixture of more
  than one subspecies.

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Phenocephorus spp.
There are three different species here.
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Pylaemenes borneensis sepilokensis (Bragg, 1998)
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Pylaemenes borneensis ssp.There are three
subspecies of Pylaemenes borneensis shown here
Female abdomens from left to right

• Pylaemenes borneensis sepilokensis (Bragg, 1998)
• Pylaemenes borneensis borneensis (Bragg, 1998)
• Pylaemenes borneensis waterstradti (Bragg, 1998)

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Rhamphosipyloidea sp.

• I know this belongs in the genus
  Rhamphosipyloidea but I do not know which species
  it is.

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Yet more rules

• Use brackets around the author and date if the
  species is moved to another genus.
• Use sp. if the species is unknown.
• Use spp. if there is more than one species.
• Use ssp. for an unknown subspecies.

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What can you tell about these names?

• Haaniella echinata
• (Redtenbacher, 1908)

• Orthonecroscia pulcherrima
• Kirby, 1904

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If you still dont know why the brackets are
there, or how to tell who the author is, check
out the new PSG website at

• http//phasmid-study-group.org/

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Phasmid Identification

• An introduction to getting started, and a
  discussion of some of the difficulties.

by Phil Bragg.
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Identification - getting started

• Be clear about your aims.

• Do you want to identify the species?
• Or just the genus?
• Or only the family or subfamily?

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Family and subfamily

• These are relatively easy to do.
• There are keys easily available.
• There are some complications
• Some names have changed recently so most keys
  will probably have some out-dated names (e.g. the
  old Heteronemiidae are now called
  Diapheromeridae).
• There may be different views about which are
  families and which are subfamilies.

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What you need

• Time
• Patience

• Microscope
• Keys

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Some keys will become available on the new PSG
website in the near future.

• http//phasmid-study-group.org/