Deinacridinae

Cook Strait giant weta Deinacrida rugosa, copyright Peter Reese.

Belongs within: Anostostomatidae.

The Deinacridinae is a group of orthopterans endemic to New Zealand, including the tree wetas (Hemideina) and giant wetas (Deinacrida).

Characters (from Gorochov 2001): Mandibles of male with sexual specialisation (increased length) or without it as well as those of female. Wings absent. Upper side of hind tibiae with large subapical spines; fore and mid tibiae without subapical spines. Tympana and femoro-abdominal stridulatory apparatus developed; abdominal stridulatory areas with ridges. Male genital plate with styles, paraprocts with specialised processes. Ovipositor developed.

<==Deinacridinae
    |--Hemideina Go01
    |    |--H. broughi Gi01
    |    |--H. crassidens (Blanchard 1851) H04
    |    |    |--H. c. crassidens M-RKT01
    |    |    `--H. c. crassicruris M-RKT01
    |    |--H. femorata Hutton 1897 H82
    |    |--H. maori H04
    |    |--H. ricta Gi01
    |    |--H. thoracica (White 1845) H04 (see below for synonymy)
    |    `--H. trewicki Morgan-Richards 1995 H04
    `--Deinacrida Gi01
         |--D. carinata Gi01
         |--D. connectens (Ander 1939) [=D. connectans (l. c.); incl. D. sonitospina (Salmon 1950)] Gi01
         |--D. elegans Gi01
         |--D. fallai Gi01
         |--D. heteracantha Gi01
         |--D. mahoenui Gi01
         |--D. parva (Buller 1895) Gi01
         |--D. pluvialis Gi01
         |--D. rugosa Buller 1871 H82
         |--D. talpa Gi01
         `--D. tibiospina Gi01

Hemideina thoracica (White 1845) H04 [=Deinacrida thoracica M27; incl. D. ligata Brunner 1888 M27, D. megacephala Buller 1867 M27, Hemideina megacephala M27]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[Gi01] Gibbs, G. W. 2001. Habitats and biogeography of New Zealand’s deinacridine and tusked weta species. In The Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and Their Allies (L. H. Field, ed.) pp. 35-55. CABI Publishing: Wallingford (UK).

[Go01] Gorochov, A. V. 2001. The higher classification, phylogeny and evolution of the superfamily Stenopelmatoidea. In The Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and Their Allies (L. H. Field, ed.) pp. 3-33. CABI Publishing: Wallingford (UK).

[H04] Harris, A. C. 2004. Hemideina crassidens (Blanchard) and not Hemideina maori (Pictet & Saussure) (Anostostomatidae: Deinacridinae) established at Anderson’s Bay, Dunedin. Weta 27: 41-42.

[H82] Helmore, D. W. 1982. Drawings of New Zealand insects. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of New Zealand 8: 1-52.

[M27] Maskell, F. G. 1927. The anatomy of Hemideina thoracica. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 637-670.

[M-RKT01] Morgan-Richards, M., T. King & S. Trewick. 2001. The evolutionary history of tree weta: A genetic approach. In The Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and Their Allies (L. H. Field, ed.) pp. 111-124. CABI Publishing: Wallingford (UK).