''Clitarchus tepaki'' is a stick insect that belongs to the common

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

genus ''

Clitarchus Clitarchus may refer to: * Cleitarchus, a Greek historian active in the late 4th century BCE * Cleitarchus of Eretria, a Greek tyrant who lived in the 4th century BCE * ''Clitarchus'' (phasmid), a genus of insects in the family Phasmatidae {{D ...

''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the North Cape area of New Zealand, in particular Te Paki and the Karikari Peninsula.

Description

''Clitarchus tepaki'' is a medium-sized, moderately robust and wingless stick insect with a green to mottled brown and grey body, sometimes with

tubercles In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, ...

on its dorsal side. It prefers to live in forest remnants, and has been seen feeding on ''

Metrosideros perforata ''Metrosideros perforata'', also known as white rata, climbing rata, akatea or Akatorotoro, is one of twelve ''Metrosideros'' species endemic to New Zealand. It is one of three white flowering rātā vines (the others being large white rātā an ...

'', ''

Metrosideros bartlettii ''Metrosideros bartlettii'', also known as Bartlett's rātā, Cape Reinga white rātā or in Māori as rātā moehau, is one of twelve ''Metrosideros'' species endemic to New Zealand and is notable for its extreme rarity and its white flowers, ...

'', manuka (''

Leptospermum scoparium ''Leptospermum scoparium'', commonly called mānuka, () mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islan ...

''), kanuka (''

Kunzea ''Kunzea'' is a genus of plants in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to Australasia. They are shrubs, sometimes small trees and usually have small, crowded, rather aromatic leaves. The flowers are similar to those of plants in the genus ''Lepto ...

'' spp.), and pohuehue (''

Muehlenbeckia australis ''Muehlenbeckia australis'', the large-leaved muehlenbeckia or pohuehue, is a prostrate or climbing plant native to New Zealand. Description The species grows up to tall with grey bark. The leaves are on stiff petioles and are long. Lamina is ...

''). This stick insect has been found in just two localities: the Te Paki or North Cape area, and the volcanic uplands of Paraawanui in the

Karikari Peninsula The Karikari Peninsula on the east coast of the far north of Northland, New Zealand, is between Rangaunu Harbour to the west, and Doubtless Bay to the southeast. It is a right-angled land mass of two relatively distinct parts. The rocky norther ...

. Within Te Paki it has been collected in many spots, including Spirits Bay, Tom Bowling Bay, and Unuwhao. Both these areas were isolated from the rest of New Zealand during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

species. Outside these areas ''C. tepaki'' is replaced by the species '' Clitarchus hookeri''. ''C. tepaki'' was described and formally named by Buckley, Myers, and Bradler in 2014. Its species name, "''tepaki''", refers to its

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

, which is known to be a centre of endemism for many species of plants and invertebrates, such as ''

Leucopogon xerampelinus ''Leucopogon'' is a genus of about 150-160 species of shrubs or small trees in the family Ericaceae, in the section of that family formerly treated as the separate family Epacridaceae. They are native to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, th ...

'', ''

Placostylus ambagiosus ''Placostylus ambagiosus'' is a species of flax snail ( Māori: pūpū whakarongotaua), a large air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bothriembryontidae. Description This snail has a large ( long) s ...

,'' and the stick insect ''

Tepakiphasma ngatikuri ''Tepakiphasma ngatikuri'' is a stick insect of the family Phasmatidae, endemic to a single patch of forest near the northernmost tip of the North Island, New Zealand. It was not discovered until 2008, and is the only member of the genus ''Tepaki ...

''. Its name in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

is ''whē o Ngāti Kurī'', chosen by the

Ngāti Kurī Ngāti Kurī is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kurī trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Pōhurihanga, the captain of the waka (canoe) Kura ...

people of Northland, whose area of interest includes North Cape.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21249114 tepaki Endemic fauna of New Zealand Phasmatidae of New Zealand Phasmatidae Endemic insects of New Zealand