Ima fusca Tindale
Creators: name: Connors, Matthew G.
name: Yeeles, Peter
name: Lach, Lori
name: Rentz, David C. F.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Mantodea
Nanomantidae
Ima
Ima fusca

description: Ima fusca Tindale
Figures 1–5, 14, 15A–D
Ima fusca Tindale, N.B. 1924, Review of Australian Mantidae. Part II. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide), vol. 2, pp. 547–552 [549].
Type material. Holotype male. Label 1 front. “I.14591 Ima fusca Tindale Cairns dist. A.M.Lea Type ”. Label 1 back. “NB Tindale Type a ♂ also Genotype”. Label 2. “Cairns dist. A. M. Lea ”. Label 3. “ SAMA Database No. 11- 000001”. Holotype in South Australian Museum, Adelaide.
Additional material. QLD: 1♂ South Alice Ck, 20km S of Dalhunty R. crossing, Cape York Peninsula, 30 OCT 1979, M.S. & B.J. Moulds (ANIC); 4♂♂ 13km E by S of Weipa, 12.40 S 142.00 E, 25 OCT 1993, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop CY-53 (ANIC); 1♂ 2km NE. by E. of Mt. Tozer, Iron Range Nat. Park, 12.44 S 143.13 E, 3 JUL 1986, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop I-6 (ANIC); 1♂ 5km N by W of Weipa, 12.35 S 141.51 E, 24 OCT 1993, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop CY-52 (ANIC); 4♂♂ Weipa, 12.615 S 141.896 E, 11–19 SEP 2021, D. Funnell (ANIC); 1♂ Weipa Vicinity [no date or collector] (ANIC); 1♂ 2km N of Archer River, 13.25 S 142.56 E, 25 OCT 1993, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop CY-54 (ANIC); 1♀ The Bend Campsite, Coen, 13.925 S 143.194 E, 1 JUN 2022, M.G. Connors, C. Henderson, & M. Allan (ANIC); 5♀♀ 4♂♂ 3.5km SW. by S. of Mt. Baird, nr. Cooktown, 15.10 S 145.07 E, 3–5 MAY 1981, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop 31. on Melaleuca, Genitalia prep. MG399–402 J. Balderson (ANIC); 1♀ 1♂ same data, collected as nymph: reared in laboratory (ANIC); 1♀ same locality, date, and collector, Stop 31 Melaleuca & bloodwood (ANIC); 2♂♂ 7km N. of Hope Vale Miss., nr. Cooktown, 15.14 S 145.07 E, 4 OCT 1980, T. A. Weir & R. A. Barrett, Genitalia prep. MG311 J. Balderson (ANIC); 1♂ 14km W. by N. of Hope Vale Mission, nr. Cooktown, 15.16 S 144.59 E, 9 OCT 1980, T.A. Weir & R. A. Barrett (ANIC); 2♀♀ same locality, 7–10 MAY 1981, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop 34. on paperbark, wet Melaleuca swamp (ANIC); 1♀ nymph 1♂ 1km N. of Rounded Hill, nr. Cooktown, 15.17 S 145.13 E, 6 OCT 1980, T.A. Weir & R. A. Barrett (ANIC); 4♀♀ 5♂♂ same locality, 5–7 MAY 1981, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop 32 on Melaleuca paperbark, Genitalia prep. 415–418 J. Balderson (ANIC); 2♂♂ same data, collected as nymph and reared in laboratory (ANIC); 1♀ Walker’s Bay, Cooktown, 15.28 S 145.15 E, 26 JAN 1995, L. R. Ring (ANIC); 1♀ 1♂ Cooktown Botanic Gardens, 7 APR 1991, G. Milledge, MAN-41 & MAN-42 (MV); 2♂♂ Cooktown Botanic Gardens, 15.47 S 145.26 E, 2 OCT 2022, M.G. Connors, G. Kruger-Ilingworth, & R. Kinnaird, on Melaleuca (ANIC); 1♀ Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, 16.83 S 145.70 E, 4 JUN 2022, M.G. Connors, on Melaleuca (ANIC); 1♂ Cattana Wetlands intake road, 16°49’46.0’’ S 145°42’25.8’’ E, [no date], J. Kramer, specimen 21 (ANIC); 1♂ Holloways Beach Swamp Edge, 16°50’18.5’’ S 145°44’10.0’’ E, 8 FEB 2020, J. Quinn, species #8 (ANIC); 3♀♀ 2♂♂ Cairns Botanic Gardens, 16.901 S 145.751 E, 25 MAR 2022, M.G. Connors, on Melaleuca (ANIC); 2♂♂ Les Davies Park, Cairns, 16.909 S, 145.763 E, 29 SEP 2022, M.G. Connors, on Melelauca (ANIC); 4♂♂ Clohesy River Rd Dinden State For. Nr Koah, 417m, 16°55’.422’ S 145°35.490’ E, 19 JUL 2017, D.C.F. Rentz & B. Richardson, Stop 31 (ANIC); 1♂ Clohesy River Rd. Dinden State Forest, nr Koah, 412 m, 16°55.456’ S 145°35.508’ E, 4 OCT 2021, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop 23 (ANIC); 1♂ Clohesy River Rd Dinden State For. Nr Koah, 410m, 16°55’.416’ S 145°35.483’ E, 5 OCT 2018, D.C.F. Rentz, Stop 28 (ANIC); 1♀ Townsville, DEC 1981, Preston-Maffam (ANIC).
Differential diagnosis. Ima fusca can be distinguished from Ima corymbia sp. nov. only by the male genitalia having afa without a strong indentation on the right side.
Description. As for the generic description in external morphology and colouration. Male genitalia with afa directed posteriorly, with tip broadly rounded, often poorly sclerotised, right side straight or at most very weakly concave (Figure 1C–D).
Nymph. Older nymphs are similar in morphology and colour to adults, but lack wings (Figure 4E). Very young nymphs are pale with relatively long legs and shorter abdomen.
Ootheca. Small, cryptic; pale salmon pink externally, internally a deeper reddish pink; ovate, strongly flattened, distal end slightly pointed; with two irregular rows of eggs, these laying almost flat but not parallel with each other; external foam layer thin but covering almost entire ootheca; emergence area obscured by foam (Figure 3). In nature, oothecae are deposited in the very narrow space between layers of bark such that the two broadest sides both attach to the substrate. Even if removed from the tree, a thin layer of bark usually remains glued to the external surface of the ootheca. If deprived of bark, females will deposit oothecae in narrow cracks between other items.
Measurements (in mm). Body length, 20.9–22.5 (♀) 18.7–22.4 (♂). Pronotum length, 4.0–6.4 (♀), 4.1–5.1 (♂). Pronotum width, 2.2–2.7 (♀), 1.7–2.3 (♂). Tegmen length, 12.2–13.6 (♀), 13.4–15.5 (♂).
Distribution. Ima fusca has been collected from a variety of different habitats in northeastern Queensland, from human-modified suburban areas to dry sclerophyll forest; it is particularly abundant in Melaleuca swamp forests. It is known from Mapoon in the north to Cairns in the south. A single record from Townsville may represent an accidental translocation, as repeated searches in the area have failed to find any further specimens. South of Cooktown, Ima fusca has only been collected close to the coast, whereas it has been collected well inland in the northern portion of its range (Figure 14, 15A–D).
Remarks. Ima fusca is quite common where it occurs but is usually very localised. Although males are strong flyers and will readily come to lights, females and nymphs have been collected almost exclusively from the trunks of paperbark trees (Melaleuca spp.), particularly from Melaleuca leucadendra in the Cairns region. Notably, however, individuals have been recorded on Corymbia stockeri in Coen. Collection localities for this species have been mostly restricted to areas where these trees are common, but cover a wide range of habitats from undisturbed heath and paperbark swamp to suburban parks, gardens, and beaches.
Adults and nymphs of both sexes have been collected throughout the year, but are generally more common in the wet season (November to March). In particular, the abundance of adult males appears to drop significantly during the dry season (April to October), and nymphs appear to be most abundant in the late dry season and early wet season.
Unusually among mantises, Ima fusca appear to be remarkably tolerant of both conspecifics and unrelated mantises living in close proximity. Multiple individuals of different life stages can frequently be found on a single tree, and we have recorded the species living on the same tree trunk as both Ciulfina rentzi Holwell et al., 2007 and Metoxypilus costalis Westwood, 1889.
description: Published as part of Connors, Matthew G., Yeeles, Peter, Lach, Lori & Rentz, David C. F., 2023, A revision of the genus Ima Tindale (Mantodea: Nanomantidae: Fulciniinae) with the description of a new genus, pp. 201-226 in Zootaxa 5380 (3) on pages 206-209, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5380.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10224417