Study of type material of Paraphasma Redtenbacher, 1906 and other genera in the tribe Stratocleini (Phasmatodea: Pseudophasmatidae: Stratocleinae)

Abstract

Paraphasma Redtenbacher, 1906 is a Neotropical genus of stick insects, currently comprising ten species of which eight are recorded from Brazil. As most Brazilian genera of stick insects, Paraphasma is poorly defined and presents a confused taxonomic status. For my doctoral project, I am working on a taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis of this genus.Types of most Paraphasma species are housed in three European Institutions: the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHMW) (which holds type material of half of the species in the genus), the British Museum of Natural History (BMNH), and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH). I herein propose an internship in these institutions to study type specimens of Paraphasma and of other species important for the taxonomic revision, planning to work during four weeks in the NHMW (host institution) and one week in each of the other two museums. During the internship, I intend to confirm the identity of species, establish possible new synonyms and new combinations in Paraphasma, and redescribe species for which there is no material available in Brazilian collections. Additionally, it will be possible to examine type material of species in other genera of the tribe Stratocleini, which will be included as outgroup taxa in the phylogenetic analysis. (AU)