Synonymy
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Agamemnon
Moxey, 1971,
Psyche, 78 (1/2): 71-75.
[ Type species: Agamemnon iphimedeia Moxey, 1971, by original designation. ]
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Description
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Body form elongate and slender; surface rugose or granulate.
Head elongate, rectangular, with a pair of tubercles or spines between the eyes; vertex not swollen.
Antennae longer than the anterior legs; scape depressed; pedical subconical. Compound eyes small,
but prominent; ocelli absent.
Pronotum elongate, rectangular; anterolateral defensive gland opening present. Prosternum transverse, lyriform. Mesothorax
elongate, cylindrical in the male, slightly narrowed anteriorly in the female; notum of the female medially
carinate. Metathorax elongate, rectangular, cylindrical in the male; notum medially carinate in the female.
Median segment about 0.5-0.7 times the length of the metanotum.
Abdomen cylindrical in the male, segments II-VIII elongate, IX quadrate, X transverse, rounded posteriorly.
Vomer triangular, with a short, sclerotized tip; subgenital plate fornicate, apex rounded; genitalia with a
dextral sclerotized hook and a strong dorsal plate. Cerci short and curved.
Abdomen a little broader in the female, segments II-VII subquadrate, VIII-X narrower than the preceding.
Supraanal plate prominent, elongate. Sternite VII of female with a highly specialized postero-median praeopercular
organ; subgenital plate elongate, exceeding the end of the abdomen, apex rounded.Cerci straight.
Legs elongate and slender, the posterior femora reaching to abdominal segment V or beyond. Anterior femora
strongly curved basally, the lower median carina displaced towards the anterior one. Tibiae anareolate. First
hind tarsomere longer than the second, but not longer than the next two together, dorsally sulcate.
Tegmina and wings absent.
Sexual dimorphism pronounced, the male being much slenderer than the female.
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Derivation of name. Agamemnon was one of the Greek heroes of the Trojan War.
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Behavioral notes. Specimens of this genus can be successfully reared in the
laboratory on leaves of rhododendrons, English ivy, or avocados.
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Geographic distribution. St. Thomas and the Greater Antillean islands of Puerto Rico
and Cuba.
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Systematic notes. I originally described this genus for A. iphimedeia
Moxey from eastern Puerto Rico and for the species Saussure (1868) described as Pygirhynchus thomae from
St. Thomas. After examining the type of Acanthoderus cornutus
Burmeister, 1838, in the
Zoologisches Museum der Humboldt-Universität, I am convinced that thomae is identical
with cornutus. In 1972, I saw a single specimen from Cuba representing a third,
as yet undescribed species of the genus.
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Systematic position.
Superfamily Phasmatoidea | Family Bacteriidae |
Tribe Hesperophasmatini
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| Character |
Agamemnon |
Ocnophila |
| First tarsomere of hind tarsi |
not longer than next two together |
longer than next two together |
| Median segment |
> 0.45 × length of metanotum |
< 0.40 × length of metanotum |
| Female supraanal plate |
large, elongate |
small, not elongate |
| Female praeopercular organ |
specialized |
unspecialized |
| Female subgenital plate |
exceeding end of abdomen by one-third its length |
barely exceeding end of abdomen |
| Male abdominal segment X |
broadly rounded posteriorly |
with a median projection posteriorly |
| 1. |
Male with strongly curved spines on the posterior margin of the pronotum; anterior coxae
with a lateral spine. Female with the supraanal plate subquadrate, broadly rounded and medially
notched apically, shorter than abdominal segment X; mesonotum more than three times the length
of the metanotum.
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| 1'. |
Male with only short tuberculate spines on the posterior margin of the pronotum; anterior coxae
without a pair of lateral spines. Female with the supraanal plate lanceolate, longer than
abdominal segment X; mesonotum less than three times the length of the metanotum.
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