Piscomantis, Rivera & Vergara-Cobián, 2017

Rivera, Julio & Vergara-Cobián, Clorinda, 2017, A checklist of the praying mantises of Peru: new records, one new genus (Piscomantis gen. n.) and biogeographic remarks (Insecta, Mantodea), Zootaxa 4337 (3), pp. 361-389 : 365

Piscomantis Rivera & Vergara-Cobián, gen. n.

( FIGURE 1a–j )

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F49C8BF9-3093-4147-8311-137844DF456F

Type species: Galapagia peruana Beier, 1935 (by present designation and monotypy).

Description (on the basis of G. peruana Beier, 1935 ). Size range (mm): 20–25.

Body coloration: light to dark brown or greyish brown ( Fig. 1a–b ).

Head: vertex straight to slightly concave, juxtaocular tubercles conical, well developed and rising above vertex and dorsal margin of compound eyes ( Fig. 1d ).

Thorax: pronotum short and compact, stouter in females ( Fig. 1e–f ), supracoxal bulges developed, lateral margins with small denticles, metazona 1.3 times as long as prozona. Forecoxae longer than metazona ( Fig. 1f ). Spination formula (sensu Rivera & Svenson, 2016): F=4DS/8–10AvS/4PvS; T=5–6AvS/1–3PvS. Foretibial spines of the anteroventral series (AvS) subdivided into two groups (g1 and g 2 in Fig. 1g ): g1 consists in 2–3 very small, proximal spines, whereas g2 consists of three much larger, equidistant spines. Foretibial spines of the posteroventral series (PvS) distally located ( Fig. 1h ). Tibial spines exhibiting weak, ventral microserrulations, which are somewhat more conspicuous along the tip of the tibial apical spur of females. Males: forewings narrow, hyaline, smoky grey with scattered dark spots along longitudinal veins and cells, cross-veins often darkened at their point of insertion. Hindwings hyaline and colourless, often exhibiting a few dark spots near costal margin. Females wingless.

Abdomen: slender and cylindrical in both sexes, although slightly dilated in females. Abdominal terga exhibiting a small, median process, the same are slightly larger distally (especially in females, Fig. 1i ); ventral phallomere as in Fig. 1j .

Distribution. Western slopes of the central Andes of Peru and adjacent Pacific lowlands.

Etymology. The generic epithet combines the word “Pisco”, and the word “mantis”, meaning “prophet” in ancient Greek, a common termination in many praying mantis genera. The new genus name refers to “Pisco”, the celebrated Peruvian national spirit native of Pisco, a town in central Peru where it is produced and where this group of praying mantises is also found. Gender is feminine.

Remarks. Beier (1935a) described Galapagia peruana on the basis of one female holotype and four females paratypes from an unknown locality in Peru; one paratype and its labels are portrayed in Figs 1a–c .

Piscomantis and true Galapagia share several morphological similarities that suggest a close relationship, such as the conformation of their heads (compare Fig. 1d with Fig. 1k ), forelegs (compare Figs 1g –h with Figs 1p–q ) and male genital structures (compare Fig. 1j with Fig. 1r ). Their likely affinities are supported by the longrecognized biogeographic connection between the biota from these archipelagic islands and the Pacific coast of South America, largely influenced by the south-north direction of the Humboldt current ( Peck, 2001; Lanteri, 2001). However, the mainland species exhibits important genus-level differences that depart from the morphology of Galapagia solitaria , the type species of the genus and biogeographically confined to the Galapagos Islands. Piscomantis differs from Galapagia in having a much stouter and compact built; as a result, pronotal proportions are radically different. Galapagia peruana exhibit a metazona that is 1.3 times as long as the prozona ( Fig. 1e–f ), whereas the same is 1.9–2.2 times in insular Galapagia solitaria , where the lateral edges of the prozona are more markedly parallel ( Fig. 1l–o ). Another distinct difference is that in Galapagia peruana the forecoxae are longer than the metazona, whereas in Galapagia solitaria the same are slightly shorter than the metazona. Overall, Galapagia solitaria exhibits a more typical stick-like Thespini habitus (see type of Galapagia solitaria in Svenson, 2014c ). Differences among females include the small tergal lobes of Galapagia . peruana ( Fig. 1i ), which are lacking in Galapagia solitaria .

Given these evident morphological differences and the biogeographic separation, we proposed the new genus Piscomantis to accommodate Galapagia peruana .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Piscomantis gen. n. and Galapagia Scudder. Piscomantis peruana, a) lateral habitus of paratype (NHMW); b) dorsal habitus of paratype (NHMW); c) labels (NHMW); d) head, detail of vertex, frontal view (black arrow points to a juxtaocular tubercle); e) head and pronotum, dorsal view (male); f) head and prothorax, dorsal view (female); g) foretibia, anteroventral aspect; h) foretibia, posteroventral aspect; i) partial lateral view of distal terga and supraanal plate (arrows point to distal tergal lobes); j) ventral phallomere, ventral view. Galapagia solitaria, k) head, detail of vertex, frontal view (black arrow points to a juxtaocular tubercle); l) pronotum, dorsal view (male); m) pronotum, dorsal view (female); n) pronotum, dorsal view (female); o) pronotum, prozona and partial view of metazona (female); p) foretibia, anteroventral aspect; q) foretibia, posteroventral aspect. r) ventral phallomere, ventral view. Abbreviations: AvS, anteroventral spines; g 1, group one of spines; g 2, group 2 of spines; PvS, posteroventral spines; Sap, supraanal plate. All scale bars = 1 mm, except Figs 1 a – b = 10 mm.