Pseudocreobotra ocellata ( Palisot de Beauvois, 1805 )

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 : 38-39

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5373.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:51184B8D-2D44-466C-B5CD-D043F4563532
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10248987
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039E0178-FFF2-D361-FF44-029AB57CA1FF
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Pseudocreobotra ocellata ( Palisot de Beauvois, 1805 )
status

Treatment

Pseudocreobotra ocellata ( Palisot de Beauvois, 1805) View in CoL

Figs. 121–128 View FIGURES 121–124 View FIGURES 125–128

Empusa ocellata Palisot de Beauvois, 1805: 110 , pl. 13, Fig. 2 View FIGURES 2–4 .

= Mantis ocellaria Drury, 1782: 58−59 , pl. 43, Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 .

Type localities. (E. o.) Nigeria; (M. o.) “African coast” .

Distribution. Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Angola, CAR, DRC, Uganda, W Kenya, Burundi ( Beier 1954, 1968, 1969; Chopard 1954; Gillon & Roy 1968; La Greca 1950b, 1955; Lombardo 1997; Moulin et al. 2017; Palisot de Beauvois 1805; Prost & Roy 1986; Ragge & Roy 1967; Rehn 1912a, b, 1914, 1949; Roy 1962a, 1963, 1964b, 1965a, 1968a, 1969, 1971b, 1973b, 1975, 2018; Roy & Leston 1975; Werner 1928; pers. obs.).

Records. CSC: ♁, old camp, lux, 11.X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♁, old camp, 19.–21.X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♀, old camp, 12.–20.XI.2000, leg. juv. C. J. Schwarz; ♁, old camp, lux, 13.–19.XI.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♀, old camp, P-Gen. leg. XI.2000, captive bred 2002, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♀, old camp, P-Gen. leg. XI.2000, captive bred, 23.IV.2002, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♀, old camp, P-Gen. leg. XI.2000, captive bred, VII.2002, C. J. Schwarz leg.; 2 ♀♀, old camp, P-Gen. leg. XI.2000, captive bred, 15.VIII.2002, C. J. Schwarz leg.; 4 oothecae, old camp, P-Gen. leg. XI.2000, captive laid 2002, C. J. Schwarz leg.; 2 ♀♀, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg .. SMNK: 2 ♀♀ + 2 oothecae, old camp, P-Gen. leg. XI.2000, captive bred, 15.VIII.2002, ded. C. J. Schwarz (SMNK-Mant. 07743–07746) .

Remarks. Found on inflorescences of higher forbs near water bodies, at forest edges, and in all types of secondary vegetation, from Senegal to the western shores of the Great African Lakes. First instars mimic bug nymphs ( Fig. 125 View FIGURES 125–128 ) (but see Edmunds 1976 and Neumann 2006, who argue in favor of ants). Older nymphs are polyphenic, adjusting their color to their immediate environment ( Figs. 126–127 View FIGURES 125–128 ).