''Anchiale maculata'' is a medium-sized

stick insect The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as ...

found on the Maluku Islands,

Peleng Island Peleng is an island off the east coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia and is the largest island of the Banggai Islands (''Kepulauan Banggai''). It is surrounded by the Banda Sea and Molucca Sea and has an area of 2,406 km². Some of the smaller ...

and Kei Islands. ''Anchiale maculata'' was first described by Oliver in 1792 as ''Mantis maculata''. The genus ''Anchiale'' was introduced by Stål (1875) with the type species ''Anchiale maculata''.

Description

''Anchiale maculata'' are geenish-brown in color. Females are or more long and males are about long. Both sexes have fully developed wings but only males are capable of flying. Interestingly, ''Anchiale maculata'' exhibits considerable variations, including size, coloration, and body features, depending on which island it inhabits. For example, a female specimen from

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

was much darker than those examined from Ambelau,

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island. Hal ...

, and Seram. Hennemann, F.H., Conle, O.C. & Suzuki, S. (2015): A study of the members of the tribe Phasmatini Gray, 1835, that occur within the boundaries of Wallacea (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae: Phasmatinae: "Lanceocercata"). Zootaxa, 4008(1), 1-74.

References

Phasmatidae Insects described in 1898 {{Phasmatodea-stub