Deroplatys rhombica De Haan, 1842

Zhang, Jia-Zhi & Price, Benjamin, 2024, Revision of the genus Deroplatys Westwood, 1839 (Mantodea: Deroplatyidae) with the description of three new species, Zootaxa 5445 (1), pp. 1-68 : 37-38

Deroplatys rhombica De Haan, 1842

(13G; 14A; 14D; 14E)

Mantis (Deroplatys) rhombica De Haan, 1842: 92-93 (♂, figure 1; ♀, figure 2, same as D. lobata ); Westwood 1843: 192 (♂ and ♀ identical to male D. angustata and female D. lobata ); Saussure 1869: 72 (transferred from Mantis to Deroplatys ); Saussure 1871: 166 (♂, ♀ synonymized with D. lobata ); Kirby 1904: 281 (♀, male synonymized with D. angustata ); Werner 1921:129 (status doubtful with D. lobata and D. angustata ); Werner 1922a: 118 (♂); Werner 1924: 263 (cannot be distinguished with‘ angustata ’ but without making any taxonomic adjustment); Werner 1927: 417 (♂, hard to distinguish with D. horrifica ); Gigilo-Tos 1927: 344 (status doubtful with D. lobata ) Beier 1935: 6 (♂); Schwarz & Konopik 2014: 153 (status doubtful with D. lobata and D. angustata ).

Deroplatys brunneri Kirby, 1904: 281 (unnecessary replaced name for D. rhombica ).

Type material examined

Lectotype of Deroplatys rhombica designated here: ♂; RMNH; Type vm D.rhom/ bica ♂ De Haan. [handwriting on a yellow paper].

Diagnostic features: see De Haan (1842).

Distribution. Malaysia and Indonesia.

Remarks The entire abdomen of the type specimen of Deroplatys rhombica is missing ( Fig 14E ). While there is no reference to the number of specimens used in the original description, we assume that the specimen examined is a syntype following ICZN recommendation 73F, and we here designate it a lectotype. De Haan (1842) stated that the distribution of D. rhombica was Java, Sumatra and Mandawey (Borneo), however the type specimen from Naturalis Museum, Leiden does not have the locality information.

According to a male specimen labelled as the type from Naturalis Museum, Leiden, the widest point of lpe is below the midline of the pronotum ( Figure 13G , 14 ). This character is the same as that of D. trigonodera males kite-shaped lpe where the widest point of lpe is also below the midline ( Figure 13E & F ). Furthermore, the characteristic features on forecoxae of the D. trigonodera male are a match with typical male D. rhombica . All the features above illustrated a close relationship between the D. trigonodera and D. rhombica .

It would be very important to compare the D. trigonodera and D. rhombica males’ genitals. However, the missing abdomen of the D. rhombica type makes the comparison rather impossible. Therefore, DNA analysis is desperately needed to be included to resolve this situation.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Deroplatys spp. male pronotum and lateral pronotal expansion. ‘*’ denotes a primary type. A: *Deroplatys desiccata; B: Deroplatys truncata; C: Deroplatys lobata, West Malaysia; D: Deroplatys lobata, East Malaysia; E: Deroplatys trigonodera, Sarawak; F: Deroplatys trigonodera; G: *Deroplatys rhombica; H: *Deroplatys indica; I: * Deroplatys angustata; J: Deroplatys philippinica; K: * Deroplatys nebula sp. nov; L & M: * Deroplatys kinabaluensis sp. nov; N: * Deroplatys xuzhengfai sp. nov; O: Deroplatys sarawaca. Images not to scale.

FIGURE 14. Deroplatys rhombica and D. trigonodera males ‘*’ denotes a primary type. A: *Deroplatys rhombica dorsal; B: Deroplatys trigonodera, West Malaysia dorsal; C: Deroplatys trigonodera- Borneo dorsal; D: * Deroplatys rhombica type label; E: *Deroplatys rhombica ventral; F: Deroplatys trigonodera, West Malaysia ventral; G: Deroplatys trigonodera, Borneo ventral. Scale bars 10mm. Label not to scale.