Redescription of Malacomorpha cancellata ( Phasmatodea : Pseudophasmatidae ) : a geographically misplaced Neotropical species

Olcyphides cancellatus Redtenbacher, 1906 was described from Canton, China, in error. The species was transferred to Pseudolcyphides Karny, 1923, a genus that later on was synonymized with Malacomorpha Rehn, 1906. However, the name P. cancellatus was forgotten and was not mentioned in the publication where Pseudolcyphides was synonymized with Malacomorpha and thus was not transferred. Here the original geographical record is corrected and the species is transferred to Malacomorpha. The resulting new combination, M. cancellata comb. nov., resulted from examination of specimens from state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. In addition, species diagnosis, redescription of the female and the first description of male specimens, with comparative comments on other Malacomorpha species, are provided.


INTRODUCTION
Olcyphides cancellatus Redtenbacher, 1906 was originally described based on a single female specimen from Canton, China.Its type-locality was mentioned with a question mark.Later, Weidner (1966) transferred O. cancellatus to Pseudolcyphides Karny, 1923, while failing to acknowledge that there was a problem with the type-locality.Conle et al. (2008) synonymized Pseudolcyphides with Malacomorpha in their revision of Malacomorpha, but failed to mention Pseudolcyphides cancellatus in their work, leaving the generic placement of the species in question.Hennemann et al. (2008) confirmed that the type-locality given for O. cancellatus was in fact in error and that the species is most likely from the Neotropical region.
This series of events involving Pseudolcyphides cancellatus resulted in three problems: (1) the species cannot be properly identified because its description is insufficient for diagnosis, (2) only one specimen is available for study and, and (3) the generic position of the species is uncertain.
In view of museum material identified as the species in question (from the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, after comparison with photographs of the holotype), we present an amended geographical distribution for it, a redescription of the female, the first description of the male, a new combination, information on copulatory behavior and host plant.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
This study is based on the examination of 72 specimens housed at Coleção Entomológica Adalberto Antonio Varela Freire, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (CEAAVF/UFRN).The specimens are stored in vials containing 80% alcohol.Male specimens had their terminalia dissected and then macerated in 85% lactic acid heated at 120 °C for about two hours.The macerated piece was examined on concave slides with glycerin.After study, the genitalia was placed in a microvial with glycerin and stored together with the specimen.Genitalia terminology follows Helm et al. (2011).All measurements were taken with a digital caliper rule data of the shortest and longest specimen are given.
Photographs were taken with a Leica DFC500 digital camera fitted on a Leica MZ205 stereomicroscope connected to a computer loaded with the Leica Application Suite software.This software includes an Auto-Montage module (Syncroscopy software) used to combine multiple layers of photographs taken at different focus points into one photograph with greater depth of field.Label data are translated to English.Square brackets are used to indicate complementary data and semicolons are used to separate different specimens or groups of specimens.
The Brazilian specimens were compared with photographs of the holotype available at http://phasmida.speciesfile.org(Brock et al. 2016).The holotype is deposited in the Zoologisches Institut und Zoologisches Museum der Universität Hamburg (ZMUH), Germany.After study, part of the material was deposited at Coleção de Invertebrados do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) and Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP).All specimens are in alcohol.
Description of males (based on specimens from Natal, Brazil).Similar to female, but with shorter and slender body and with the following differences.
Thorax.Black stripes at pro-and mesonotum and white band in tegmina thinner.Mesosternum without black spots.Black spots of metasternum with lighter coloration.Abdomen.Tergite 8 dorsally quadrangular, laterally two times longer than high (Figs
Genitalia.Connected to subgenital plate by two anterior points, pouch-like shaped and globose, mostly membranous, with some sclerotized parts (Figs 26-27), divided into two big lobes, dorsal and ventral.Dorsal lobe dorsally with small and scattered setae; dorsoapically with group of spines; anteroventrally with sclerotized and sinuous right process of phallic Biological information.A couple of individuals in copula were photographed in a forest fragment near the city of Natal (Fig. 30).The male was positioned adjacently to the female, the body turned almost upside down, clasping the female with its terminalia.The copula lasted approximately 45 minutes.
Remarks.The name of the genus comes from the Greek Malakós (soft, gentle) and Morphé (shape, form) and ends with the suffix "a", indicating that it is a feminine name.Thus, the specific name also has to be feminine."Cancellatus" comes from the Latin and means latticed, being a masculine word.Therefore, we changed the specific name to "cancellata" to agree with the gender of the genus.Conle et al. (2008) did not mention this species in their revision of Malacomorpha and hence they did not transfer it from Pseudolcyphides to Malacomorpha.Since they did not propose a new combination, the generic placement of this species remained questionable (i.e., whether it should be Pseudolcyphides or Malacomorpha).In addition, it is important to highlight that the specific name "cancellatus" had never been combined with Malacomorpha in a scientific publication before.
Although Brock et al. (2016) already used the combination "Malacomorpha cancellatus", it was used in an online digital database that does not constitute a formal scientific publication, since it is not registered with the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank).According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, this violates Article 8.5.3, which mandates that a valid electronic publication: "be registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) (see Article 78.2.4) and contain evidence in the work itself that such registration has occurred."Thus, we are here treating this combination as new.

DISCUSSION
This is the first record of Malacomorpha from Brazil and South America.Thus it is an important record that increases the range of distribution from the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola and Jamaica (Conle et al. 2008).It also strengthens the idea proposed by Hennemann et al. (2008) that this is definitively a Neotropical genus.
So far, the species has only been found in Brazil in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in Atlantic Forest with traces of Caatinga and Dune vegetation.M. cancellata comb.nov.has been repeatedly collected since 1984 at Parque Estadual Dunas de Natal (a conservational urban forest fragment, located in Natal city, capital of Rio Grande do Norte) feeding on Eugenia pyriformis (Cambess.),commonly known in northeastern Brazil as "Ubaia" or "Uvaia".Parque Estadual Dunas de Natal is close to the sea and mostly harbors Atlantic Forest, but it also has traces of Caatinga and Dune vegetation.M. cancellata comb.nov.has also been reported from Dune areas inside and outside the park.This habitat information is valuable because the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga biomes, as well as Dune environments, are critically endangered in Brazil.Less than 2% of the total area of the Caatinga is currently protected by conservational units (Tab-arelli et al. 2000), and there is no reliable estimate of how much deforested the biome is.Concerning the Atlantic Forest, less than 15% of the original forest survived (Ribeiro et al. 2009).There are no reliable sources on how much of the Dune vegetation is being protected by conservational units, nor is it known how much of it has been already deforested.Hence, it is possible to assume that M. cancellata comb.nov. is also endangered, especially if it has become a specialist species in these biomes.Future studies are needed to evaluate whether M. cancellata comb.nov. is endangered or not.Lastly, this is the first record of the host plant and copulatory habits of M. cancellata comb.nov., as well as the first description of the male genitalia of Malacomorpha.