Pleioplectron
Sign in to savePleioplectron is a genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand. These wētā are fairly common at night among the leaf litter in native forest in the South Island of New Zealand. The species look very similar to species of Miotopus, another New Zealand endemic genus, recently resurrected.
Taxonomy · GBIF
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassInsecta
- OrderOrthoptera
- FamilyRhaphidophoridae
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Pleioplectron is a genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand. These wētā are fairly common at night among the leaf litter in native forest in the South Island of New Zealand. The species look very similar to species of Miotopus, another New Zealand endemic genus, recently resurrected.
There are currently ten recognised species of Pleioplectron. The genus was described by Hutton in 1896, with six species, three of which have since been moved (to Miotopus, Novoplectron, and Pachyrhamma), and two synonymised. The genus Weta, erected by Chopard in 1923, is now considered a synonym of Pleioplectron. Seven additional species of Pleioplectron were named in 2019.