Morphological Differences between Males from Lord Howe Island and Ball’s Pyramid

Description:

Morphological Differences between Males from Lord Howe Island and Ball’s Pyramid: Museum specimens from Lord Howe Island are shown on the left, and captive-reared specimens originally from Ball’s Pyramid are shown on the right. Specimens from Lord Howe Island tend to be more robust (A) and have larger femoral spines (C), as well as differences in cercal morphology (B). Although coloration of the specimens also differs, this is most likely a consequence of aging. Because no congeneric taxa exist, it is unclear whether these differences correspond to species-level differentiation or are merely a reflection of environmental or ontogenetic differences, necessitating a genetic investigation of how the two populations relate to each other.