Timema Discovery Project
"Answering Big Questions
by Studying Small Insects"
Timema Morphology
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Members of the family Timematidae are easily distinguished from other Phasmatodea by their very short legs and bodies.
Males are readily told apart from females by the prong-like cerci and lobed intra-cercal process at the end of the abdomen. Male nymphs can sometimes be mistaken for adult males, but the cerci are covered in a simple sheath.
The following anatomical terms are defined and illustrated for reference, and some are necessary for understanding the key.
c
eyes: slightly bulging, multifaceted; when alive, the eye color is often camouflaged, and some species tend to have the eyes more bulging than in others.
d
pronotum: the dorsal part of the prothorax (the first thoracic segment); the anterior angle is indented near the posterior edge of the head. The patterns and pits on this and the other thoracic segments can be important for diagnosis.
e
mesonotum: the dorsal part of the mesothorax (the second thoracic segment); the patterns and pits on this and the other thoracic segments can be important for diagnosis.
f
metanotum: the dorsal part of the metathorax (the third thoracic segment); the patterns and pits on this and the other thoracic segments can be important for diagnosis.
g
tarsus: the terminal part of each leg, comprised of four small segments, called "tarsomeres"; there are membranous, fluid-filled pads underneath, but these pads shrivel in pinned specimens.
h
abdomen: many segments, sometimes striped dorsally; the dorsal portion of each segment is called a tergite, while the bottom portion is called a sternite. The very last sternite in females can be diagnostic in shape.