Microphotina, Beier, 1935

Lanna, Leonardo Moutinho, Fiat, Lucas Linhares, Herculano, João Felipe, Rivera, Julio & Peloso, Pedro, 2023, A new species of Microphotina Beier, 1935 from the southernmost region of Amazonia (Mantodea: Photinaidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 870, pp. 87-106 : 99

Key for the identification of species of Microphotina (males only)

1. Left phallomere: afa large, hook-like ( Fig. 7B ) ................................................................................ 2

– Left phallomere: afa strongly reduced, shape variable ( Fig. 7C–E ) ................................................. 3

2. Ventral phallomere bearing elongated patch of setae ventrally ( Fig. 7F ) ( Microphotina s. str.) ........ ............................................................................................................. M. vitripennis Saussure, 1872

– Ventral phallomere lacking patch of setae ..................................................... Chromatophotina spp.

3. Ventral phallomere: bl narrow and elongated ( Fig. 5B ) ( Microphotina , in part) ............................. 4

– Ventral phallomere: bl broad and short ( Fig. 7G ) ..................................................................Genus A

4. Wings with a subopaque, yellowish green region apically .............. M. viridescens (Chopard, 1912)

– Wings fully hyaline, unpigmented .................................................................................................... 5

5. Left phallomere: paa hammerhead-like ( Figs 5B , 7H ) ..................................................................... 6

– Left phallomere: paa simple ............................................................................ M. viridula Roy, 2019

6. Left phallomere: paa margins smooth ( Fig. 7H ), afa unguiform ( Fig. 7D ) ........................................ ........................................................................ M. panguanensis Schwarz, Ehrmann & Stiewe, 2020

– Left phallomere: paa margins irregular ( Fig. 5B ), afa blunt ( Fig. 7C ) ............. M. cristalino sp. nov.

Figures

Fig. 7. Systematics of Microphotinini Rivera & Svenson, 2016. Higher-level molecular phylogeny of Photinaidae Giglio-Tos, 1915 (A) summarizing evolutionary relationships among Microphotinini and relevant genital traits according to Rivera & Svenson (2016, 2020). Distinct genital traits define four lineages and an equal number of genital types (outlined in Rivera & Svenson 2020). Microphotina Beier, 1935, as currently understood, is paraphyletic, a relationship further supported by divergent genital traits. M. vitripennis (Saussure, 1872) is the type species of the genus; thus, from a strictly nomenclatural perspective, it represents a ‘true’ species of Microphotina, that is, Microphotina sensu stricto (s. str.). In Clade 1, a well-developed, long and strongly curved (hook-like) afa (B) is a genital trait common to M. vitripennis and Chromatophotina Rivera, 2010 spp.; however, M. vitripennis is unique in having an elongated patch of setae on its ventral phallomere (F, in ventral view). Clade 2, with its strongly reduced afa (C–E), comprises Microphotina (in part; Type 3 genitalia) and Genus A (= Microphotinini gen. et sp. nov. of Rivera & Svenson 2016: fig. 4). In the first, the paa is markedly hammerhead-like (H), a feature Genus A lacks; further, the ventral phallomere of the latter has a strongly reduced bl (G, dorsal view), a unique feature among the Microphotinini, in which the bl is typically narrow and elongated (as in Fig. 5B). Abbreviations: See Material and methods. Genital structures and phylogenetic tree branches not to scale. Fig. 7E–G from Rivera & Svenson (2020).

Fig. 5. Microphotina cristalino sp. nov., ♂, holotype (MPEG 05050654), subgenital plate and genital structures. A. Subgenital plate. B. Genital complex in dorsal view detailing the hammerhead-shaped paa, and its irregular margins. C. Genital complex in ventral view.