Corresponding author: Eliomar da Cruz Menezes (
Academic editor: Ed Baker
A second species of the Neotropical mantid genus
The genus
In this paper we describe a second species of
In this study, we examined specimens collected in inventoried areas by the Programa de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade do Semiárido (PPBio / Semiárido) and specimens deposited in the Coleção Entomológica Professor Johann Becker do Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (MZFS), Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. To study the male genitalia, the abdomina of the specimens were detached behind the eighth segment and treated according to the protocols of
The program QGIS 2.0.1 – Dufour was used to construct the map.
Male: Body (Fig.
Head (Fig.
Thorax (Fig.
Fore coxae stout, surpasing the base of proesternum, ca. 0.80 times as long as pronotum; anterior margin with spaced ivory spines; inner face with minute tubercles.
Forefemora: stout, triangular, ca. 1.07 times longer than pronotum; 6 external spines, 14/14 inner spines (paratypes: 12/14 MZFS #54.894; 13/13 MZFS #52412; 14/13 MZFS #54.895) and 4 discoidal spines; spines of the three series black at tip. Inner face of the fore femur exhibiting a longitudinal series of seven circular black callouses, two of them occurring before the groove and the other five calluses beyond it (four of them near to the base of the largest internal spine) (Fig.
Mesothoracic wings: ca. 4.17 times longer than pronotum and long as the metathoracic wings when folded, wings extend beyond the tip of abdomen. Veins green. Venules of the costal area anastomosed in basal 1/5, straight and parallel in upper 4/5.
Metathoracic wings: ca. 3.63 times longer than pronotum; wing membrane hyaline with light green apex above the anterior medial vein; yellowish strips over transversal veins absent (Fig.
Mid and hind legs: pilose; mid femora ca. 0.95 times as long as pronotum; mid tibia ca. 0.74 times as long as pronotum; hind femur and tibia ca. 1.06 times longer than pronotum.
Abdomen: cylindrical, ca. 2.31 times longer than pronotum. Supranal plate triangular ca. 2.00 times wider than long, distal margin rounded. Cerci pilose, cylindrical and 14 articules. Subgenital plate pilose, ovoid. Styles pilose, cylindrical.
Phallic complex
Right dorsal phallomere (Fig.
Left dorsal phallomere (Fig.
Ventral phallomere (Fig.
Female. Unknown. Probably the female has the same pattern of male color, with black calluses on forefemora and black strip on the vertex.
Body length: holotype 35.55 mm (paratypes: 31.81–37.72 mm); head width: 5.69 mm (5.09–6.03 mm); pronotum length: 7.82 mm (7.00–8.30 mm); fore coxae: 6.26 mm (5.60–6.29 mm); fore femora: 8.39 mm (7.50–8.90 mm); fore tibia: 4.93 mm (4.41–5.23 mm); mesothoracic wings: 32.62 mm (29.20–34.63 mm); mid femura: 7.45 mm (6.67–7.91 mm); mid tibia: 5.83 mm (5.22–6.19 mm); metathoracic wings: 28.45 mm (25.46–30.20 mm); hind femura and hind tibia: 8.33 mm (7.45–8.84 mm); abdomen: 18.08 mm (16.18–19.19 mm).
Vertex with a transverse black strip between compound eyes. Fore femora exhibiting black calluses on inner face. Metathoracic wings lacking yellowish strips over transverse veins. Left dorsal phallomere exhibiting a rectangular ventral lamina; lateral process elongated, grooved; apical process flattened and not twisted, upwardly recurved.
The species epithet
The Chapada Diamantina mountains are in the northern area of the Espinhaço Range, which extends from the state of Minas Gerais to Bahia (
We are grateful to “Programa de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade do Semiárido (PPBio/Semiárido)” for financial support.
Dorsal habitus, scale bar = 5.00 mm.
Head, frontal view, scale bar = 2.00 mm.
Pronotum, dorsal view, scale bar = 5.00 mm.
Right fore femur, inner view, scale bar = 5.00 mm.
Dorsal right phallomere, dorsal view.
Dorsal right phallomere, ventral view.
Ventral process and ventral plate, lateral view.
Dorsal left phallomere, dorsal view.
Dorsal left phallomere, ventral view.
Ventral phallomere, dorsal view. All scale bars = 1.00 mm.
Geographical records of