Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) Moulin & Schwarz, 2023

Moulin, Nicolas & Schwarz, Christian J., 2023, Two new genera of Acanthopidae (Mantodea) from the Amazon region, with description of a new species, Zoosystema 45 (5), pp. 137-161 : 140-143

Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. ( Figs 1-5 ; 19-21 )

Acanthops soukana Roy, 2002a: 297 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype • ♀; French Guiana, Route de Kaw , pk36, IX.1999; F. Luquet leg.; battage; MNHN-EP-EP2424.

OTHER MATERIAL. — French Guiana • 1 ♂; Roura ; Montagne des Chevaux; 52°25’53”S, 4°44’31”E; alt. 45 m; 7.VII.2018; Société Entomologique Antilles-Guyane ( SEAG) team; PVB (PolyVie Blue trap); genitalia preparation NM0217; BOLD GFMAN18-049 ; MNHN-EP-EP7504 .

TYPE LOCALITY. — French Guiana.

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. — Body coloration dark brown in males, pale brown in female.

Female. Pronotum with moderately marked supracoxal dilatation, metazona with small triangular teeth; costal margin on forewings strongly sinuate, with large triangular subapical and a markedly short apical lobe.

Male. Tegmina only slightly longer than alae. Male genitalia: sdp of ventral phallomere very elongate, re-curved to the left, and with several teeth at its base. Bl of ventral phallomere elongate, with acute apex curved to the left; afa, loa, and ventral lamina as in R. confusa Schwarz & Moulin , n. gen., n. sp.; paa curved, with a subapical process, rendering the whole structure hammerhead-like.

DESCRIPTION

Male ( Figs 1-4 )

Measurements (n = 1). Body length 40.7; antenna length 8-8.9; head length 3.7; head width 4.7; pronotum length 13.2; prozona length 3.6; metazona length 12.6; pronotum width 2.9; ratio pronotum width/length 0.22; ratio metazona/ prozona 3.5; prothoracic coxa length 6.8; prothoracic femur length 10.3; prothoracic femur width 2.3; prothoracic tibia length 6.3; mesothoracic femur length 5.8; mesothoracic tibia length 5.8; metathoracic femur length 6.7; metathoracic tibia length 7.1; forewing length 30.3; forewing width 9.7; costal field width 4.8; ratio forewing length/width 3.1; ratio forewing/pronotum 2.3; hindwing length 29.6.

Coloration and habitus. Body and wings brown, resembling a dry leaf.

Head ( Fig. 2A ). Triangular in frontal view, spotted with dark, without projections.Antennae moniliform, shorter than body, bearing black setae; scape and pedicel ochraceous; flagellum black. Vertex convex, higher than compound eyes, with small tubercles. Juxtaocular bulges protruding, with several small tubercles. Eyes rounded, with a small dorsolateral process. Lower frons wider than high, with two small projections on upper margin.

Pronotum ( Fig. 2C ). Elongate, light brown with brown spots and a pair of darker spots at around two-thirds of the metazona. Prozona with smooth margins, and armed with four pairs of pointed tubercles, growing larger from front to back. Metazona with a fine and sparse denticulation along its lateral margins; armed at the posterior end of supracoxal dilatation with two paramedian conical tubercles with a blunt point.

Prothoracic legs ( Fig . 2D, E). Same coloration as head and pronotum. Coxae rectangular, prism-shaped in cross-section, with two small black tubercles on posteroventral side; 13-14 small ochraceous dorsal spines. Trochanter slightly granular. Femora triangular in cross-section, spotted, with 6 posteroventral spines; margin between spines crenelated; 15 anteroventral spines, and 4 discoidal spines, all spines dark brown; claw-groove at basal fourth of femur, with an obtuse angulation towards the base of the external margin. Tibiae dark brown, spotted; 21-22 posteroventral spines, all dark brown at the tip, tightly arranged and decumbent; 19 dark brown, separated anteroventral spines; first tarsomere longer than remaining tarsomeres together.

Meso- and metathoracic legs. All segments setose. Coxae robust, relatively long. Femora slightly widened, with a deeply concave ventral margin, accommodating tibia when at rest; genicular lobes short and rounded. Tibiae darker, slightly arched, mesothoracic tibiae distinctly swollen in the basal half, metathoracic tibiae for almost two thirds of their length, with a very short apical lobe and two black terminal spines; tarsi with first tarsomere shorter than next four together.

Wings ( Figs 1 ; 2B ). Forewings subopaque, brown, resembling dry leaves, with the postero-apical region more hyaline; costal area brown, slightly darker, opaque; costal area strongly sinuated, widest at about first quarter of wing, then convexly tapering towards Subcostal posterior at apical third of wing; subapical lobe weakly developed; stigma pale, almost hyaline. Hindwings with an ochraceous, spotted costal area; proximal part of discoidal and anal areas smoky; discoidal area with a well-developed apical lobe and two smaller lobes posteriad.

Abdomen ( Fig. 3 ). Light brown, fusiform, shorter than wings; tergites 3 and 4 with thin lateral extensions; tergites 5 and 6 with large lateral, irregularly toothed lobes, more developed on tergite 5; tergites 7 and 8 with small lateral lobes. Supraanal plate deeply indented, bearing short cerci, the last segment flattened and indented, with the outer lobe larger than the inner lobe. Sternites each with a median and two paramedian lobes at posterior margin. Subgenital plate with two small styli.

Genitalia ( Fig. 4 ). L4A longer than wide; sdp very elongate and re-curved, with acute apex and with several small denticles at the base; bl on right site of ventral phallomere well developed, elongate, thin, with truncate apex and a sclerotized acute process pointing to the left. L4B with afa sclerotized, distally more so, short, with several sclerotized spines; loa setose, anterior lobe with elongate setae, posterior lobe with roughly triangular apex, indented on the left side; paa curved at the end, with a subapical digitiform process rendering the apex hammerhead-shaped. Ventral lamina longer than wide, with a wide sclerotized area; R3 with digitiform pia bearing several sclerotized teeth, and a well sclerotized pva.

Female

See Roy (2002a) ( Fig. 5 ).

Figures

FIG. 1. — Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. male MNHN-EP-EP7504: A, dorsal view; B, ventral view. Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIG. 2. — Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. male MNHN-EP-EP7504: A, face; B, apex of right hindwing; C, pronotum, lateral view; D, left prothoracic leg, dorsal view; E, left prothoracic leg, ventral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 3. — Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. male MNHN-EP-EP7504: A, subgenital plate, cerci, and styli; B, abdomen, left side, ventral view; C, supraanale plate and cerci. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 4. — Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb., male MNHN-EP-EP7504: A, genitalia, ventral view; B, genitalia, dorsal view. Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 5. — Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. female holotype MNHN-EP-EP2424, dorsal view. Scale bar: 1 cm. Photo: M. Depraetere.

FIG. 19. — Humid forest of low altitude at the edge of the Kaw track, type locality of Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. Photo: Jérémie Lapèze.

FIG. 20. — Humid forest of low altitude at Montagne des Chevaux, locality of the male of Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. Photo: Stéphane Brûlé.

FIG. 21. — Distribution map of Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb., R. confusa Schwarz & Moulin, n. gen., n. sp. and Parvacanthops parva (Beier, 1942) n. comb. Source: http://www.gadm.org GADM database of Global Administrative Areas.