''Anderus brucei'' is a species of ground wētā in the family

Anostostomatidae Anostostomatidae is a family of insects in the order Orthoptera, widely distributed in the southern hemisphere. It is named Mimnermidae or Henicidae in some taxonomies, and common names include ''king crickets'' in Australia and South Africa, an ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. These insects are nocturnal and found in forests in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

and northern

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

Taxonomy

Previously encompassed under '' Hemiandrus maculifrons'', ''A. brucei'' is similar in appearance but genetically distinct. This species was moved to the genus ''

Anderus ''Anderus'' is a genus of forest insects in the family Anostostomatidae (wētā). All ''Anderus'' species are nocturnal, and hide in burrows during the day. In New Zealand they are known as ground wētā due to their burrowing lifestyle. Groun ...

'' in 2024 when genetic data showed the species within ''

Hemiandrus ''Hemiandrus'' is a genus of wētā in the family (biology), family Anostostomatidae. In New Zealand they are known as ground wētā due to their burrowing lifestyle. ''Hemiandrus'' wētā are nocturnal, and reside in these burrows during the d ...

'' were not

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. ''Anderus brucei'' is named in memory of Briar Taylor-Smith's grandfather, Bruce Edwin Smith.

Habitat and distribution

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

and northern

of New Zealand and is often

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

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

Morphology

''Anderus brucei'' has a high level of morphological variation. The head and body of ''A. brucei'' is mostly brown but sometimes with small pale patches on the

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may also refer to: Biology and healthcare * Lateral (anatomy), a term of location meaning "towards the side" * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, an intrinsic muscle of the larynx * Lateral release ( ...

and

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

surfaces of the

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

. ''Anderus brucei'' has fine microsetae on the three apical segments of the maxillary

palps Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...

; four spines on the inferior retro lateral angle of the mid tibiae; 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 typica ...

Conservation

''Andrus 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 s ...

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 In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

: adult female; March 2012; BL Taylor-Smith; deposited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa *

Paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

: 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 Anostostomatidae Wētā