Nilomantis Werner , 1907

Sydney K. Brannoch & Gavin J. Svenson, 2016, Leveraging female genitalic characters for generic and species delimitation in Nilomantis Werner, 1907 and Ilomantis Giglio-Tos, 1915 (Mantodea, Nilomantinae), Insect Systematics & Evolution 47, pp. 209-244 : 235-236

Nilomantis Werner, 1907

Nilomantis Werner, 1907: 233 –234; Beier 1930: 438 –439; Beier 1935: 55; Uvarov 1939: 551; Chopard 1950: 132; Roy & Leston 1975: 311 –316; Edmunds 1976: 6 –7, 34; Kaltenbach 1984: 205; Edmunds 1986: 41, 45; Ehrmann 2002: 242; Otte & Spearman 2005: 120 –121

Cryptomantis Giglio-Tos, 1915: 45 –46; Giglio-Tos 1927: 136; Roy & Leston 1975: 311 –316; Ehrmann 2002; 242

Type species

Nilomantis floweri Werner, 1907 .

Diagnosis

Small, slender mantises (body length 15–21 mm), green; fully developed wings. Body and anterior margin of forewings lightly ciliated. Pronotal medial keel present. Head capsule dorsoventrally compressed; compound eyes dorsoventrally compressed, laterally conical, blunted. Head capsule with relatively straight vertical margin; cranial vertex with no projections. Lower frons featuring an arcuate carina. Female genitalia: gonoplac (GL) features a rounded dilation on the anteroventral margin; gonapophysis IX (GP) apex acuminate. Male genitalia: lobo membranoso (loa) with varying levels of sclerotization and distal crenulation; ventral sclerotization of the left phallomere (L4A) terminates in two lobes.

Remarks

As evidenced by external and internal morphological characters, as well as by the geographical distribution of the genera, we contend that Nilomantis and Ilomantis are separate, valid genera.

Key to Nilomantis Werner, 1907 species

1. Female genitalia: Gonocoxa VIII (VF) internal margin rounded; from LH, VF without projection. Apical lobe (AL) ovoid, ciliated. Gonoplac (GL) ventral margin rugose, dorsal margin relatively smooth. Male genitalia: lobo membranoso (loa) heavily sclerotized and strongly crenulated distally; processo apical (paa) narrow and recurved apically. The ventral sclerotization of the left phallomere (L4A) relatively narrow, terminating into two triangular lobes; processo distale (pda) terminating in a lightly sclerotized point. Processo ventrale sclerificato (pva) and piastra ventrale (pia) reduced and closely adjoined. Distributed within the Sahara-Sahel region of Africa and Saudi Arabia. floweri

1’. Female genitalia: VF internal margin approximately angular in appearance; from LH, VF possesses a distinct knob-like projection that is directed dorsad. AL ovoid, pitted; GL dorsal and ventral margins relatively smooth. Male genitalia: loa invaginated and very lightly crenulated distally; paa broad and recurved. L4A broad, terminating into two well separated, apically rounded lobes; pda broad, largely rounded. Pva and pia sclerotized, finger-like. Distributed within Ghana and the Central African Republic. edmundsi