''Hemiandrus brucei'' is a species of ground wētā in the family Anostostomatidae endemic to New Zealand. They are nocturnal and found in forests in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

and northern

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

Taxonomy

Previously encompassed under ''

Hemiandrus maculifrons ''Hemiandrus maculifrons'' is a species of ground wētā (''Hemiandrus'' Walker, 1869) endemic to New Zealand. They are nocturnal, carnivorous, and flightless orthopterans belonging to the family Anostostomatidae. Being a nocturnal species, indivi ...

'', ''H. brucei'' is similar in appearance but genetically distinct. ''H. brucei'' is named in memory of Briar Taylor-smiths grandfather, Bruce Edwin Smith.

Habitat and distribution

''Hemiandrus brucei'' is found in native forests in the

and northern

of New Zealand and is often

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with other wētā species. Having such a broad range is uncharacteristic of most ground wētā, which are often endemic to very small areas.

Morphology

''Hemiandrus brucei'' has a high level of morphological variation. The head and body of ''H. brucei'' is mostly brown but sometimes with small pale patches on the lateral and dorsal surfaces of the pronotum. ''H. brucei'' has fine microsetae on the three apical segments of the maxillary palps; four spines on the inferior retro lateral angle of the mid

tibiae The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

; a single inferior articulated spine on the hind tibiae; males with a V- or U-shaped apical margin on the subgenital plate, blunt cerci, and ninth abdominal termite with two obtuse curved lobes; females with a long, gently curved

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

Conservation

''Hemiandrus brucei'' is classified as Not Threatened in the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

Type information

* Taylor-Smith, BL; Trewick, SA; & Morgan-Richards, M (2016). ''Three new ground wētā species and a redescription of Hemiandrus maculifrons.'' New Zealand Journal of Zoology. * Type specimen: adult female; March 2012; BL Taylor-Smith; deposited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa * Paratype: adult male, same collection data as holotype; deposited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa * Type location: Collected from the Kahuterawa Valley, Wellington −40.47190°, 175.61417°

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q49633079 Insects described in 2016 Fauna of New Zealand Anostostomatidae Wētā