''Pharmacus'' is a genus of cave
wētā
Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemism, endemic to New Zealand. They are giant wingless insect, flightless cricket (insect ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Rhaphidophoridae
The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets (sometimes shortened to "criders" or "sprickets"), and sand trea ...
,
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 ...
to
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 ...
. All species are alpine adapted and found at high elevations in the South Island.
They live among rocks on high mountain ridges, often well above glaciers and vegetation.
''Pharmacus'' has a geographical range that extends from Nelson south to central Otago and Fiordland.
They are small insects with a body length of approximately 14-20mm.
In this genus, females are larger than males.
All species exhibit dark brown to black pigmentation of the body and legs.
They have a dense clothing of setae and a serrated ovipositor.
When active they are lively jumpers.
For example'', Pharmacus montanus'' is known as the Mount Cook flea because of its habit of leaping out of rock crevices on to mountain climbers.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Pharmacus'' was first described by Pictet and de Saussure in 1893 as a monotypic taxon.
''Pharmacus montanus'' was thought to be the only species in this genus.
However, three species were added to the genus by Richards in 1972.
These were ''Pharmacus brewsterensis'' (now moved to another genus), ''P. chapmanae'' and ''P. dumbletoni'' (both
synonyms
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
).
Six new species and three new subspecies have been recently added in 2022 by Hegg, Morgan-Richards and Trewick.
The six new species are ''Pharmacus concinnus'', ''P. cristatus'', ''P. notabilis'', ''P. perfidus'', ''P. senex'', ''P. vallestris''.
Three new subspecies of ''Pharmacus cochleatus'' have been described and are known as ''P. cochleatus rawhiti'', ''P. cochleatus fiordensis'', ''P. cochleatus nauclerus''.
Morphology
''Pharmacus montanus'': body length = 14mm, ovipositor = 9.9mm, foreleg = 18.7mm, mid leg = 18.7mm, hind leg = 28.6mm.
Diet
Little is known about the diet of these alpine insects.
''Pharmacus'' are mainly
herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...
and have been observed feeding on rock lichen.
However, they probably prey on small invertebrates.
''Pharmacus'' may also feed on the rich red algal growth that coats snow-fields during the summer season.
Distribution
''Pharmacus'' are alpine specialists and are found throughout the mountain ranges of New Zealand's South Island.
They are only found above the tree line and into the nival zone.
They have been sighted at 1300m above sea level or higher.
On Mt Cook ''P. montanus'' has been recorded at 3400 m asl.
Different species of ''Pharmacus'' have varied distributions throughout the South Island.
''Pharmacus montanus'' and ''Pharmacus cochleatus'' are the two most widespread species, occupying the length of the Southern Alps from Fiordland to Kahurangi National Park.
Species
* ''
Pharmacus cochleatus'' (Karny, 1935)
* ''
Pharmacus concinnus''
Hegg, Morgan-Richards &Trewick 2022
* ''
Pharmacus cristatus''
Hegg, Morgan-Richards &Trewick 2022
* ''
Pharmacus montanus
''Pharmacus montanus'', the Mount Cook flea, is a type of cave wētā found above the tree line in the South Island of New Zealand. It was first described by Francois Jules Pictet de la Rive and Henri Saussure in 1893. ''Pharmacus montanus'' i ...
''
Pictet & Saussure, 1891
* ''
Pharmacus notabilis''
Hegg, Morgan-Richards &Trewick 2022
* ''
Pharmacus perfidus''
Hegg, Morgan-Richards &Trewick 2022
* ''
Pharmacus senex''
Hegg, Morgan-Richards &Trewick 2022
* ''
Pharmacus vallestris''
Hegg, Morgan-Richards &Trewick 2022
References
Peripatus
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7180801
Ensifera genera
Cave wētā
Endemic insects of New Zealand