The Anatomy and Life History of Acanthoxyla prasina (Westwood); Orthoptera, Phasmidae

Abstract

The work carried out so far on the New Zealand Phasmidae is limited mostly to description and systematics. The principal New Zealand workers have been Colenso (1881), Hutton (1897, 1898, 1904), and J. T. Salmon (unpublished), who has recently revised the systematics of the group and described several new species. The anatomy, embryology, ecology, life histories, etc. have not been investigated, so this paper is intended as a starting point in such studies. It is also intended, not only as an account of the anatomy and life history of an individual species, but also as a contribution to our knowledge of the comparative anatomy of the Phasmidae. The Phasmidae, or "stick insects", are widespread over the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the earth, with their centre of distribution in India and the Malay Archipelago. More than two thousand species have been described. (De Sinéty, 1901).