Royacanthops confusa Schwarz & Moulin 2023, n. sp.
Creators: name: Moulin, Nicolas
name: Schwarz, Christian J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Mantodea
Acanthopidae
Royacanthops
Royacanthops confusa

description: Royacanthops confusa Schwarz & Moulin, n. sp. (Figs 6-13; 21)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7BEBAD4B-13FE-4598-939E-18638541100E
Acanthops parva Lombardo & Ippolito 2004: 1091, figs 19 B, D, F; 20 A; 21 A, B; 22 A, B, D, E (nec Beier 1942: 147).
TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Brazil • ♂; Reg. Roraima; Xixuau Reserve, Rio Jauaperi; 1°0’0”N, 61°0’0”W; 27.XII.1995; K. Joss leg.; genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 524; ex. SMNK, to be deposited in the MZUSP.
Allotype. Brazil • ♀; N Brazil; Reg. Roraima; Xixuau Reserve, Rio Jauaperi; 1°0’0”N, 61°0’0”W; 27.XII.1995; K. Joss leg.; SMNKMant 00006.
Paratype. Brazil • ♂; Reserva Ducke, Manaus; 3°4’48”S, 60°0’35”W; obtained by fogging; 15.VI.-30.VII.1992; W. Paarmann leg.; genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 595; SMNK-Mant 00003.
TYPE LOCALITY. — Xixuau Reserve, Roraima, Brazil.
DIAGNOSIS. — Body coloration dark brown in males, pale brown in female.
Female. Pronotum with distinctly marked supracoxal dilatation, metazona with rounded, thick teeth. Costal margin on forewings strongly sinuate, with triangular subapical and digitiform apical lobe. Male. Tegmina longer than alae. Genitalia with sdp of ventral phallomere very elongate, re-curved to the left, and with several teeth at the base; bl of ventral phallomere elongate, with blunt apex possessing a short spine pointing distally. Left phallomere with afa sclerotized, short, with acute apex and several sclerotized spines along its length; loa setose, anterior lobe with elongate setae, posterior lobe with roughly triangular apex, indented on the left side; paa curved distad, without subapical process, apex digitiform. Ventral lamina longer than wide, with a wide sclerotized area.
ETYMOLOGY. — The specific epithet alludes to the fact that this taxon has been confused with three other acanthopine taxa by four different Mantodea scholars in the past, until it was finally recognized as new.
DESCRIPTION
Male (Figs 6; 7; 9A, B; 10A, B; 11 A-D; 13)
Measurements (n = 2). Body length 36.1-41.6; antenna length 8.6-10.9; head length 3.5-3.9; head width 4.4-5.2; pronotum length 12.3-14.0; prozona length 3.1-3.5; metazona length 9.2-10.5; pronotum width 2.7-3.4; ratio pronotum width/ length 0.22-0.24; ratio metazona/prozona 3.0; prothoracic coxa length 7.5-8.2; prothoracic femur length 9.7-10.7; prothoracic femur width 2.2-2.4; prothoracic tibia length 7.8-8.2; mesothoracic femur length 5.7-6.5; mesothoracic tibia length 6.2-7.2; metathoracic femur length 6.7-7.4; metathoracic tibia length 7.8-8.9; forewing length 27.6-35.4; forewing width 9.5-11.6; costal field width 4.2-5.3; ratio forewing length/ width 2.9-3.0; ratio forewing/pronotum 2.2-2.5; hindwing length 26.2-33.3.
New genera and new species of Acanthopidae (Mantodea)
Coloration and habitus (Figs 6; 7). Body and wings brown, resembling a dry leaf.
Head (Fig. 9A, B). Triangular in frontal view, tuberculate, spotted with dark, without projections. Antennae moniliform, shorter than body, of general body color, segments darkened apically, flagellum bearing darkened setae. Vertex convex, higher than compound eyes, with small tubercles. Juxtaocular bulges protruding, with several small tubercles. Eyes ovoid, rounded anteriorly, with a small, conical, dorsolateral process. Lower frons wider than high, with two small projections on upper margin.
Pronotum (Fig. 10A, B). 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 three pairs of pointed tubercles, growing larger from front to back, and 1-2 additional single tubercles. Metazona as in R. soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb., with an indistinct, sparse denticulation on the lateral margins.
Prothoracic legs (Fig. 11 A-D). Same coloration as head and pronotum. Coxae rectangular, prism-shaped in crosssection, with two little black tubercles on posteroventral side, and 16-17 small ochraceous dorsal spines of inequal size.Trochanter slightly granular. Femora triangular in crosssection, spotted, with 6 (rarely 7) posteroventral spines; margin between spines crenelated; dorsal margin almost smooth, with a small but distinct triangular lobe at base; 16 AvS, and 4 discoidal spines, all spines dark brown towards apex; claw-groove at basal fourth of femur. AvS configuration: holotype: IiIIiIiIiiiIiIiI (right) and IiIIiIiiIiIiiiIiI (left); paratype: IiIIiIiIiIiIiIiI. Tibiae dark brown, spotted; 20-22 posteroventral spines, all dark brown at the tip, decumbent; 17-18 anteroventral spines; first tarsomere longer than remaining tarsomeres together.
Meso- and metathoracic legs (Figs 6B; 7B). As in R. soukana n. comb. 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 terminal spines with black base; tarsi with first tarsomere shorter than next four together.
Wings (Figs 6; 7). 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 Subcosta posterior at apical third of wing; subapical lobe weakly developed; stigma irregularly shaped, opaque, shiny. 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. Dark brown, fusiform, shorter than wings; tergites 3 and 4 with acute, triangular extensions; tergites 5 and 6 with large lateral, irregularly toothed lobes, more developed on tergite 5; tergites 7 to 9 with small subacute lobes. Supraanal plate deeply indented, bearing short 11-segmented cerci, first and last segment consisting of 3 and 2 fused segments, respectively. Apex of last segment flattened and indented (Fig. 13A, B), 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, conical styli.
Genitalia (Fig. 13C, D). Ventral phallomere (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, digitiform, with a very short spine accompanied by a yet shorter spine on the right apical margin. L4B with afa sclerotized, distally more so, short, with several sclerotized spines. Membranous lobe setose, anterior lobe with elongate setae, posterior lobe with roughly triangular apex, indented on the left side. Apical process digitiform, curved at the end. Right phallomere with pia bearing several sclerotized ridges, and a well sclerotized, L-shaped pva.
REMARKS
The two males from the SMNK correspond very well to the specimen from the ANSP investigated by Lombardo & Ippolito (2004). The holotype from Roraima is distinctly larger than the two other known males, but agrees well in all other characters with the specimens from the lower Amazon. The paratype from Manaus has an aberrant configuration of posteroventral spines on the left femur (Fig. 11C). While the total spine number is six, the fifth spine is distinctly smaller than the others, and there is a callus between this spine and the sixth, where an additional spine was supposed to be. This spine seems to have been lost during postembryonic development. This specimen also has the right stylus shorter than the left one, a feature that is not apparent in the holotype (Fig. 13A, B).
An interesting feature in most Acanthopoidea is the irregular size of bendable anteroventral spines. In most artimantodeans, the anteroventral row consists of short, rigid spines alternating with long, bendable spines (except the apical ones) (pers. obs.). In Acanthopoidea (except Angelidae Beier, 1935) the proximal 4-6 spines are arranged in two rows, with the medial (= inner) row consisting of bendable spines. As seen in the configurations here, the bendable spines in this group may be shorter than neighboring rigid spines.
Female (Figs 8; 9C; 10C; 11E, F; 12)
Measurements (n = 1). Body length 38.9; antenna length 5.7; head length 5.3; head width 5.8; pronotum length 15.0; prozona length 4.4; metazona length 10.6; pronotum width 4.8; ratio pronotum width/length 0.32; ratio metazona/prozona 2.4; prothoracic coxa length 10.4; prothoracic femur length 13.6; prothoracic femur width 3.5; prothoracic tibia length 10.6; mesothoracic femur length 7.2; mesothoracic tibia length 8.7; metathoracic femur length 8.7; metathoracic tibia length 10.9; forewing length 27.0; forewing width 7.4; costal field width 5.3; ratio forewing length/width 3.6; ratio forewing/pronotum 1.8; hindwing length 21.0.
Coloration and habitus (Fig. 8). Body and wings light brown, resembling a dry, shriveled leaf.
Head (Fig. 9C). Triangular in frontal view, without projections but tuberculate. Antennae moniliform, slightly longer than head, ochraceous, along first half of flagellum darkened at every second segment apex, in the second half at each segment. Vertex convex, slightly arched, higher than compound eyes, with four tubercles in a trapezoid arrangement. Juxtaocular bulges very large, protruding, with several distinct tubercles. Ocelli small. Eyes ovoid, with a blunt, triangular, dorsolateral process. Lower frons distinctly wider than high, with two small projections on upper margin.
Pronotum (Fig. 10C). Elongate, tuberculate along its entire length, light brown with a pair of darker patches at around two-thirds of the metazona. Prozona with almost smooth margin, tuberculate, and with two pairs of robust paramedian projections, the posterior ones being larger. Supracoxal dilatation distinct, with subcircular margins. Metazona with parallel margins, 2.4 times as long as prozona, tuberculate, with a pair of robust paramedian projections at the posterior end of supracoxal dilatation and a pair of triangular projections at base; margins of metazona with thick, rounded teeth along their length.
Prothoracic legs (Fig. 11E, F). Same coloration as head and pronotum. Coxae trapezoid in cross-section; anterior sides tuberculate, with numerous whitish spots; posteroventral side with a few robust tubercles, some of them darkened; ventral margin with an irregular row of inclined small teeth; dorsal margin with 6 stronger, pale teeth interspersed with smaller teeth; apical lobes contiguous. Trochanter tuberculate. Femora triangular in cross-section; posterior side with several tubercles, some of them darkened, with 6 posteroventral spines; margin between spines heavily crenelated. Dorsal margin crenelated, with a small but distinct, darkened, triangular lobe at base; anterior side densely covered with light ochraceous spots, with two interrupted darker bands at middle and across femoral brush, respectively, and with dark spots at bases of the larger antero-ventral spines; clawgroove at basal fourth of femur; 18-19 anteroventral spines and 4 discoidal spines with brown tips; AvS configuration IiIIiIiIiIiIiIiiiI (right) and IiIIiIiIiIiIiiIiiiI (left). Tibiae with convex dorsal margin, spotted with dark and with somewhat darker apex; 23 posteroventral, decumbent spines, plus an additional, vestigial, thin spine on left tibia located before the antepenultimate spine (Fig. 11E); all spines with dark tips; 20-22 anteroventral spines with dark tips, spines on right tibia showing some size anomalies towards apex. Tarsi broken off near base, remaining parts dark.
Meso- and metathoracic legs (Fig. 8B). With slight pubescence. Coxae relatively long, heavily keeled, dorsal side concave, accommodating femur when at rest. Femora rectangular in cross section, slightly widened, with a deeply concave ventral margin, accommodating tibia when at rest; genicular lobes acute. Tibiae keeled, somewhat darker dorsally, slightly arched, mesothoracic pair distinctly swollen in the basal half, metathoracic pair for almost two thirds of their length, with a triangular apical lobe and two terminal spines. Tarsi darkened, with first tarsomere much shorter than the remaining tarsomeres taken together.
Wings (Figs 8; 12). Forewings opaque, vein configuration resembling a dry leaf, spotted with brown, apical margin darkened; costal area strongly sinuated, widest near base, then convexly tapering towards Subcosta posterior at apical third of wing, then widening again into a triangular subapical lobe; Apex of forewing elongated into a digitiform lobe slightly widened at its end (apical half broken off on right tegmen); posterior margin of forewing subapically with three small lobes surrounding vein apices. Stigma triangular, shiny, light chestnut in color. Hindwings yellowish with dark apex; cells irregularly darkened in their middle, except those at base and along anterior margin of discoidal field; anal area relatively small; apex subtruncate, with slightly undulated margin.
Abdomen (Fig. 8B). Brown, ovoid but appearing roughly circular due to lateral tergal lobes, shorter than wings.Tergites shiny, tergites 3-8 with a black band at posterior end, widest on tergite 4; tergites 3 and 4 with slender, triangular lateral lobes; tergites 5 and 6 each with a large, irregularly toothed, lateral lobe, more developed on tergite 5; tergites 7, 8 and 9 with small lateral lobes. Supraanal plate wider than long, deeply indented at apex. Cerci short, 11-segmented, the last segment flattened and indented, with the outer lobe only slightly larger than the inner lobe. Sternites each with a wide median and two acute paramedian lobes at posterior margin. Subgenital plate without peculiarities.
New genera and new species of Acanthopidae (Mantodea)
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS
Males of R. confusa Schwarz & Moulin, n. gen., n. sp. can be distinguished from those of R. soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. by their comparatively shorter alae, a much weaker apical spine on bl pointing distad instead of sinistrad, and paa lacking a subapical lobe. Females of R. confusa Schwarz & Moulin, n. gen., n. sp. can be distinguished from those of R. soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb. by their more distinct and rounder supracoxal dilatation, the thick and rounded vs smaller triangular teeth on the metazonal margin, the flatter subapical lobe on the tegmen, and the long, digitiform (vs short triangular) apical lobe.
description: Published as part of Moulin, Nicolas & Schwarz, Christian J., 2023, Two new genera of Acanthopidae (Mantodea) from the Amazon region, with description of a new species, pp. 137-161 in Zoosystema 45 (5) on pages 143-151, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2023v45a5, http://zenodo.org/record/7728802