Elaea solimani, Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011

Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011, Mantodea of Egypt, Zootaxa 3044, pp. 1-27 : 4

Elaea solimani sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 )

Holotype: Female collected from Beir Yusef, El-Harra, Baharia oasis, (28°20’39’’N – 29°4’53’’E) 15.5.2009. The specimen is housed in the collection of Ain Shams University, Faculty of Science, Entomology Department.

Etymology. The new species is named for Dr. Ahmed Mustafa Soliman, al-Azhar University, in honor of his assistance in collecting the specimen and supplying us with important sample.

Description. Dark brown, with intricate spotted and zig-zag patterns of white and dark brown dorsally and laterally (figs. 1a, b). Head ( Fig. 1 c) large, wider than pronotum, frontal shield smooth, longer than wide, vertex clearly convex,; eyes globular with pattern of dark brown spots; maxillary palp long, annulated with brown; antenna long, more than half the length of the body. Pronotum slightly longer than wide, disk smooth with distinct supra-coxal suture, prozone rounded with anterior lateral margin compressed and ornamented by dark brown spots,; metazone elongated with two large black spots in the posterior part; fore legs (fig. 1d) large, coxa long with hairy margins, anterior apical lobe acute; femora wide viewed from external face, with three discoidal and four external spines; tibia strongly annulated with brown band, elongated claw and ten external spines; tarsi five-segmented, first segment equal to length of succeeding segments; tegmina short, nearly reaching second abdominal segment, with central pale eye spot; hind wing small, with large dark patch on sub-costal area, anal area white with three black longitudinal veins, first vein surrounded by black spots; mid and hind legs long, annulated with brown, apex of tibia with long, acute spine; tarsi five-segmented, each segment elongated posteriorly to an acuta process, with first segment shorter than the succeeding segments. Abdomen oval, supra-anal transverse, much wider than long, valves of ovipositor elongated; cerci long; tip of abdomen and cerci covered with long white setae. Length 40 mm.

Diagnosis. This species is similar to E. marchali and E. gestroi but can easily be distinguished by the very long antenna, acute distal apical lobe of the coxa, the pale spot in the center of each tegmen, the elongated process on the dorsal tip of each tarsal segment of the mid- and hind legs, and the large separation between the supra-anal plate and the tip of abdomen in lateral view.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Elaea solimani sp. nov. A) Living specimen on dead palm log, El-Harra, Baharia Oasis. B) Dorsal view. C) Frontal view of head. D) External face of fore femur.