Manomera blatchleyi, female 82mm, Raleigh NC - Manomera blatchleyi

differentiation from Manomera tenuescens?

Great sighting--I have looked for insects in the Triangle for over 30 years and never found a walking stick of any type. The related Manomera tenuescens was reported by Brimley (1) from North Carolina, including from Raleigh. Other statements about the range of Manomera blatchleyi say it is found in the NE, south to Virginia. (Those could be wrong, of course!) I do not know how to identify any member of this group. There is a key differentiating these two species at the Biodiversity Heritage Library, mainly for males. It says:
"The short and broader head of the female of hlatchleyi will serve to separate it from tenuescens."
Any thoughts on this issue?
Edit: Oh, I see your image here:

Is that the basis of separating from tenuescens?

… Cotinis, 19 January, 2021 - 12:59pm

Manomera

Hi Will, Head about twice as long as wide, and head slightly longer than pronotum are the features I relied on. I also sent these shots to Ed Corey and Dave Stephan back in 2014; I think they concurred. She was on the brick wall of my old office at 1221 Corporation Pkwy, Raleigh. A lot of commercial trucks travel that road and I wondered if she might have hitched a ride from another state. I worked in that office from 2005 to 2016 and this is the only walkingstick I ever found. Gerald

… GBPottern, 19 January, 2021 - 2:00pm

thanks very much for details

Oh, very interesting. Since writing this comment, I found my copy of Arment (1), and he notes a record of M. blatchleyi from Wake County, NC, so it seems the range does extend this far south. (That work also notes M. tenuescens from several counties in NC, including Wake.)
I'm Patrick, BTW.
Thanks for the response. I am going to have to step up my efforts to see a stick insect in North Carolina!

… Cotinis, 19 January, 2021 - 3:13pm

oops sorry Patrick -- I DID k

oops sorry Patrick -- I DID know that. I was just looking up plant stuff on Will's Carolina Nature page earlier today and had a brain fart. If you think my 2014 Manomera may actually be tenuescens based on Arment's info, please let me know.

… GBPottern, 19 January, 2021 - 3:45pm

no worries...

An honor to be mistaken for Will Cook, even in error.
Arment does not give details on females of those two species apart. I'll quote the entire description of each.
M. blatchleyi - Recognizable characteristics
"Last abdominal segment twice as long as wide, blunt teeth at base of male's cercus, no teeth on middle femur. Coloration may be greenish, brownish, grayish, or purplish."

M. tenuescens - Recognizable characteristics
"Last abdominal segment twice as long as wide, sharp teeth at base of male's cercus, small tooth on middle femur."

I am unclear if the tooth (or not) on the middle femur refers just to males--seems to read that way, but maybe not.

… Cotinis, 19 January, 2021 - 4:17pm