Sphodromantis lineola lineola ( Burmeister, 1838 )

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 : 53-54

Sphodromantis lineola lineola ( Burmeister, 1838)

Figs. 176–180 , 183–184

Mantis (Stagmatoptera) lineola Burmeister, 1838: 537 .

Type locality. Sierra Leone .

Distribution. Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon ( Beier 1968; Bolívar 1908a; Burmeister 1838; Chopard 1954; Gillon & Roy 1968; La Greca 1967, 1969; Lombardo 1991; Miles 2021; Prost & Roy 1986; Ragge & Roy 1967; Rehn 1949; Roy 1963, 1964b, 1965a, 1967, 1968b, 1970b, 1971a, b, c, 1975, 1978, 2010; Roy & Leston 1975).

Records. CSC: ♀, old camp, 10.–15.X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♀, old camp, 16.XI.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♁, old camp, 17.XI.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; 9 juv., old camp, X.–. XI.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♁, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 467).

Remarks. Next to Polyspilota aeruginosa the most common mantis in the Park. Contrary to the former, S. lineola prefers forest edges and open savanna. This species occurs in two male morphs, one with a broader metazona, distributed mainly in the southern forest block, and a savanna form with a more slender metazona. Both forms co-occur in the CNP. Cohorts of freshly hatched nymphs ( Fig. 183 ) mimic aggregations of the ant Oecophylla longinoda ( Edmunds 1972; pers. obs.).

Figures

FIGURES 176–180. Sphodromantis lineola lineola (Burmeister, 1838). 176–177. Female. 178–180. Male. 176, 178. Dorsal view. 177, 179–180. Ventral view. 180. Genitalia.

FIGURES 181–184. Mantidae, live aspect. 181–182. Mantis religiosa eichleri. 183–184. Sphodromantis l. lineola. 181. Subadult male. 182. Adult female feeding. 183. First instar nymph. 184. Medium-sized nymph.