Chromosome number variation in a stick insect Didymuria violescens (Leach).

Seven major races, with diploid numbers ranging from 26 to 40, and three types of sex-chromosome mechanism were found in the Australian phasmatid Didymuria violescens (Leach). The differences between chromosome complements are mainly due to translocations between autosomes, and to translocations between autosomes and sex chromosomes. The geographic pattern of chromosome variation and the characteristics of hybrids implicate chromosomal rearrangements in mechanisms of speciation.