Gonypetella ivoirensis Gillon & Roy, 1968

Schwarz, Christian J., Pohl, Marius & Frank, Erik T., 2023, A preliminary checklist of the praying mantids of Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast (Insecta: Mantodea), Zootaxa 5373 (1), pp. 1-64 : 11

Gonypetella ivoirensis Gillon & Roy, 1968

Figs. 13–14 , 20–21

Gonypetella ivoirensis Gillon & Roy, 1968: 1082–1088 , Figs. 18–21 .

Type locality. Lamto , Ivory Coast .

Distribution. Ivory Coast ( Gillon & Roy 1968; Roy 1975).

Records. CSC: ♀ + juv. ♁, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg.

Remarks. This species seems to be endemic to the Ivory Coast. A photographic record is also known from Taï NP. Nymphs and adult females are formidable ant mimics, mimicking various ant species during development, from Camponotus acvapimensis to Megaponera analis . At Lamto, the species is apparently trivoltine, with record maxima in March, July, and December (Roy 1975).

Figures

FIGURES 13–14. Gonypetella ivoirensis Gillon & Roy, 1968. Female. 13. Dorsal view. 14. Ventral view.

FIGURES 20–23. Chroicopteridae, live aspects. 20–21. Gonypetella ivoirensis. 20. Female, lateral view, note myrmecomorphy. 21. Juvenile male, anterior view. 22–23. Parentella major, female. 22. Dorsolateral view. 23. Close-up of digging device.

FIGURES 15–19. Parentella major Giglio-Tos, 1915. 15–16. Female. 17–19. Male. 15, 17. Dorsal view. 16, 18–19. Ventral view. 19. Genitalia.