Dicromantispa frontalis (Navás)

Pires Machado, Renato Jose, Li, Hongyu & Ohl, Michael, 2025, Solving taxonomic and nomenclatural problems among the Neotropical species of the family Mantispidae (Insecta, Neuroptera), Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 72 (1), pp. 57-83 : 57-83

Dicromantispa frontalis (Navás)

Fig. 7

Mantispilla frontalis Navás, 1914 b: 232 . Lectotype (here designated): male ( ZSMC). Type locality: Paraguay: San Bernardino .

Notes.

The status of this species is similar to the previous one. It was described by Navás (1914 b) from San Bernardino, Paraguay, but the number of specimens used for the description is not clear. In this sense, we are herein designating the sole male from ZSMC as the lectotype. After the original description, the species was listed in Mantispa by Penny (1977) and Ohl (2004). More recently it was transferred to Dicromantispa by Snyman et al. (2018) without explicit justification. After studying the lectotype, we agree with Snyman et al. (2018) that the species belongs in Dicromantispa . In addition, the lectotype of M. frontalis shows all the major characters of D. gracilis . The hyaline wings, the yellow subcostal vein in the forewing, and more importantly, the color and shape of the male ectoproct in dorsal view (Fig. 7 A ) totally matches the diagnostic characters of D. gracilis , a widespread species in the Neotropical region as discussed above. Therefore, we herein synonymize Mantispilla frontalis Navás, 1914 with Dicromantispa gracilis ( Erichson, 1839) (new synonym).

Figures

Figure 7. Mantispilla frontalis Navás 1914, lectotype, male. A, B. Habitus photo, dorsal and lateral views; C. Head, frontal view; D. Forelegs; E. Pterothorax and abdomen, lateral view; F. Labels.