Chloromiopteryx Giglio-Tos, 1915

Agudelo, Antonio A. & Rivera, Julio, 2015, Some taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in American Mantodea (Insecta, Dictyoptera) — Part I, Zootaxa 3936 (3), pp. 335-356 : 338

Chloromiopteryx Giglio-Tos, 1915

Giglio-Tos (1915) established Chloromiopteryx to accommodate Mantis thalassina Burmeister, 1838 , a species based on two male syntypes from Santa Catarina Island, Brazil (deposited at ZMB). Although long considered a monotypical genus, a number of species originally described in other genera clearly belonged to Chloromiopteryx . One of these is Metathespis modesta Piza 1968a . Terra (1995) subsumed Metathespis in Chloromiopteryx and further considered M. modesta a synonym of C. thalassina , although without providing justification. The type of M. modesta ( Fig. 2 d), confirms Terra’s synonymy of Metathespis with Chloromiopteryx , but not the synonymy of M. modesta with C. thalassina . As the genitalia are missing from the male syntypes of C. thalasina , comparison was not possible, and thus we favor a more conservative approach and simply accept only the generic synonymy established by Terra (1995) at this time. Another species— Musoniola plurilobata Mello-Leitão, 1937 —was described on the basis of a single female from Mont Caxambu, Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Comparative analysis of M. plurilobata and accompanying figures with the type specimen of yet another species, Emboicy mirim Terra, 1982 , revealed that both species are referable to Chloromiopteryx . Mello-Leitão (1937) clearly misassigned plurilobata to Musoniola (a mainly Central American lineage), whereas Terra (1982) apparently used a combination of sexually dimorphic characters to justify recognition of the genus Emboicy ( Fig. 2 a–c). This is a common error in Mantodea taxonomy, where many genus-group names have been proposed without reference to both sexes ( Rivera 2010b). Analyses of specimens of both sexes of C. mirim deposited at the MZUPS reveal an accentuated sexual chromatic dimorphism, where males are green (faded to pale green or greenish brown in preserved specimens) and females predominantly light to dark brown with multiple dark marking in body and limbs. Accordingly, the characteristic green coloration that Terra (1995) considered to be diagnostic of Chloromiopteryx seems to apply only to males. Musoniola plurilobata and Metathespis modesta were both described from high-elevation localities in Petropolis (1200 m for plurilobata , “alto da serra” for modesta ), Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Therefore, both names may refer to the same species. Musoniola plurilobata also seems to be close to, if not conspecific with, E. mirim . Future studies of Chloromiopteryx must rule out all these possible synonymies. Unfortunately, the type specimens of M. plurilobata , ostensibly deposited at the Museu Nacional de Rio de Janeiro (Type No. 53786) according to the original description (Mello-Leitão 1937), could not be located (M. Monné, pers. comm.), and no topotypical specimens were available for study. Summarizing, the following nomenclatural changes apply to Chloromiopteryx :

Figures

FIGURE 2. Chloromiopteryx spp. (non-typical specimens): a) C. thalassina, ♂ from Santa Catarina, Brazil (AMNH), frontal view of interocular section of the head (notice the distinctive shape of the vertex). Chloromiopteryx mirim ♀ from Sao Paulo, Brazil (MNHN): b) same view as in previous figure; c) dorsal view of pronotum and head (notice the relatively elongated prozone, a characteristic feature of this genus). Holotype ♂ of Metathespis modesta Piza, 1968 (now Chloromiopteryx modesta) (ESALQ): d) dorsal habitus; e) labels. Holotype ♂ of Metathespis precaria Piza, 1968 (now Miobantia rustica) (ESALQ): f) dorsal habitus; g) close-up of the pronotum (dorsal view); h) labels; i) left epiphallus / hypophallus complex (dorsal view). All scales = 1 mm.