Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2013 14:32:32 GMT -8
An orthoptera collector just purchased this specimen from me and paid £33 for it. He asked me if i was suprised that the price rose so high. I told him that i was suprised and asked him why it sold for this amount. Here's what he told me......
"According to the pictures there I think your specie from eBay I won is Acridoxena hewaniana (Smith 1865).
But something is strange concerning the name Acridoxena hewaniana or A. hewiana because if you type this name
on google for example or know it from elsewhere anyway, it shows the common "dragon head katydid" in most cases.
All kind of insect dealers, insect breeding forums, eBay-sellers and photographs talk about A. hewiana but it actually is
Lesina sp.; even on Wikipedia there is a mistake (text referring to the african A. hewaniana, but picture shows Lesina
belonging to the subfamily Conocephalinae). The specie is very common, people rear it and it is an impressive hopper.
But the familiy Conocophalinae has nothing to do with the genus Acridoxena, and hewiana doesnt occur as subspecies
of Lesina, besides that hewania is some kind of wrong short term of hewaniana?!
But the main difference is Acridoxena is one single genus and only one specie exists occuring only in West Africa.
The Lesina species only occur in Tropical Asia and there are five subspecies.
The "real" Acridoxena hewaniana is you could call an african dragon head grasshopper but it also shows leaf mimic characteristics because its forewings look like a damaged leaf.
In that way it is more peculiar and definitely much rarer than the asian dragon head.
I would like to know how and why this wrong name is so widespread.
"According to the pictures there I think your specie from eBay I won is Acridoxena hewaniana (Smith 1865).
But something is strange concerning the name Acridoxena hewaniana or A. hewiana because if you type this name
on google for example or know it from elsewhere anyway, it shows the common "dragon head katydid" in most cases.
All kind of insect dealers, insect breeding forums, eBay-sellers and photographs talk about A. hewiana but it actually is
Lesina sp.; even on Wikipedia there is a mistake (text referring to the african A. hewaniana, but picture shows Lesina
belonging to the subfamily Conocephalinae). The specie is very common, people rear it and it is an impressive hopper.
But the familiy Conocophalinae has nothing to do with the genus Acridoxena, and hewiana doesnt occur as subspecies
of Lesina, besides that hewania is some kind of wrong short term of hewaniana?!
But the main difference is Acridoxena is one single genus and only one specie exists occuring only in West Africa.
The Lesina species only occur in Tropical Asia and there are five subspecies.
The "real" Acridoxena hewaniana is you could call an african dragon head grasshopper but it also shows leaf mimic characteristics because its forewings look like a damaged leaf.
In that way it is more peculiar and definitely much rarer than the asian dragon head.
I would like to know how and why this wrong name is so widespread.
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