Home > Phylum selection > Arthropoda > Embioptera
Home How to cite this site Terms & conditions Disclaimer Contact Site tutorial / Help Links	Oligotoma michaeli Orchideenwurzel-Tarsenspinner Subspecies Oligotoma michaeli javana Enderlein, 1912 has been described as a local variety. However, because Oligotoma michaeli is not identifiable from the original description (see Synonyms below), it is impossible to decide whether other specimens are conspecific and it is therefore also impossible assign further specimens to this taxon. Furthermore, the javana taxon is also not identifiable from its original description. I therefore consider it extremely unlikely that both taxa are conspecific. I do not recognize subspecies of Oligotoma michaeli here. Original description Original spelling: Oligotoma Michaeli MacLachlan R (1877). On the nymph-stage of the Embidae, with notes on the Habits of the Family. Journal of the Linnaean Society (Zoology) 13, 373-384. (p. 383-384 and plate 21). Type locality: in the original publication given as "Hab. in India orientalis", but this is only a guess based on the fact that the animals came from the greenhouses of Mr. Michael (see Michael 1876) in London, UK and were found on the roots of an orchid imported from India. However, the animals also lived on other plants in this greenhouse (Michael 1876). Synonyms Oligotoma michaeli MacLachlan, 1877 Oligotoma michaeli michaeli MacLachlan, 1877 The original description of this species is insufficient to identify the species and also appears to contain several inaccuracies (or errors), e.g. the body color or the number of abdominal segments. Several authors have therefore redescribed this species, but all of them used new specimens that they believed could be the species described by MacLachlan, but in fact belonged to other species. Thus, the only specimens that really can be attributed to the name Oligotoma michaeli are the type specimens of MacLachlan. Davis (1940) has therefore given a rediscription of what is left of these specimens. There is a mature male specimen and two immature specimens. All of these specimens are severely damaged and partially decayed. Davis (1940) therefore has doubts that any further specimens will ever by attributable to the name Oligotoma michaeli, because the identity can neither be recognized from the type specimens nor from the original description. Possibly, phylogenetic studies of DNA sequences (if they can be obtained from the type material) can help to identify this species in the future. Because of these problems, several other specimens have been identified as "Oligotoma michaeli" in the literature (see Davis 1940). Also the alleged record from Germany likely belongs to some other species (see Distribution below). Identification Distribution This species has been described from animals collected in a London green house from the roots of orchids that are believed to have been imported from India. Thus, the origin of this species is probably India, but so far it is only known from the single London find. The species is listed as a doubtful neozoon for Germany by Geiter et al. (2002). However, I am not aware of any German record in the literature. In addition, if there indeed is a record of an embiopteran in Germany, it is unlikely to be a genuine Oligotoma michaeli, because, as already stated above, the species is currently not identifyable.   Biology The specimens that were the basis of the original description were found on the roots of the orchid Saccolobium retusum (this is obviously a non-valid synonym; I am not aware of the currently used name for this plant). This page has been updated on December 27, 2014 This site is online since May 31, 2005 Copyright © by Nikola-Michael Prpic-Schäper. All rights reserved.