Miomantinae Westwood, 1889: 17

Borer, Matthias & Ehrmann, Reinhard, 2022, Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Parasphendale Schulthess- Schindler, 1898 (Mantodea: Miomantidae) with description of a new species from East Africa, Faunitaxys 10 (34), pp. 1-29 : 2-4

Subfamily Miomantinae Westwood, 1889: 17 .

Genus Parasphendale Schulthess-Schindler, 1898: 39 (2): 177-178.

Type species

Mantis vincta Gerst. (female). In: Gerstaecker, 1869: 209-210, #24.

Mantis vincta Gerst. (female). In: Gerstaecker, 1873: 14-15, #24, Taf. I., Fig. 6 .

Mantis (Photina) agrionina Gerst. (male). In: Gerstaecker, 1869: 209, #23.

Mantis (Photina) agrionina Gerst. (male) In: Gerstaecker, 1873: 13-14, #23.

Mantis (Sphendale) vincta Gerst., 1873 , Bd. III (2): 14. Taf. I., Fig. 6 . In: Schulthess-Schindler, 1898: 177.

Synonyms

Parasphendale agrionina (male and female) Gerstaecker, 1869.

= Mantis (Photina) agrionina (male) Gerstaecker. In: Gerstaecker, 1869: 209, #23.

= Miopteryx agrionina , Miomantis ? agrionina Gerst. Sansibar. In: Saussure, 1870: 238.

= Iris? vincta Gerst. , Miomantis agrionina Gerst. Zanzibar. In: Saussure, 1871a: 115, 121.

= Iris vincta, In : Saussure, 1871b: 300-302.

= Mantis vincta Gerst. , Miomantis agrionina Gerst. , Miopterxy? agrionina , Zanzibar. In: Saussure, 1871c: 263, 269.

= Iris vincta . In: Saussure, 1871d: 426.

= Mantis (Photina) agrionina (male) Gerstaecker. In: Gerstaecker, 1873: 13-14, #23.

= Mantis vincta (female) Gerstaecker.In: Gerstaecker, 1869: 209-210, #24. = Mantis vincta (female) Gerstaecker. In: Gerstaecker, 1873: 14-15, #24, Taf. I., Fig. 6 .

= Mantis (Sphendale) vincta Gerst., 1873 , Bd. III (2): 14. Taf. I., Fig. 6 . In: Schulthess-Schindler, 1898: 177.

= Iris vincta Gerstaecker : 209. In: Westwood, 1889: 8.

= Miomantis agrionina e? (female). In: Westwood, 1889: 8.

= Fischeria vincta Gerstaecker. In : Westwood, 1889: 9.

= Miomantis agrionina Gerstaecker. In : Westwood, 1889: 18.

= Miomantis vincta Gerstaecker. In : Westwood, 1889: 18.

= Miomantis vincta Gerst. , Miomantis agrionina Gerst. , Sansibar, Mozambique, Carvilia vincta Gerst. In : Saussure, 1898: 196.

= Carvilia Stål [ vincta Gerst. ] (female). In: Saussure, In: Voeltzkow, 1899: 587-588.

= Carvilia (sp. Carvilia vincta ) (female) (nec Stål). In: Kirby, 1904: 266.

= Photina agrionina Gerst. In : Werner, 1906: 368-369.

= Parasphendale (Carvilia) vincta (male), In: Werner, 1906: 369.

Remarks. – Gerstaecker, A. (1873) adds an important note on page 15. Quote: “Anmerkung: Trotz der auffallenden Form-, Färbungs- und Zeichnungsunterschiede, welche zwischen der vorstehend beschriebenen Art und Mant. agrionina vorhanden sind, wäre es immerhin nicht undenkbar, dass beide als Männchen und Weibchen einer und derselbenArt angehören. Für diesen Fall würde der Name Mantis vincta für dieselbe einzutreten haben.“

We share the doubts of Gerstaecker, quoted in 1873, concerning the validity of Mantis (Photina) agrionina . So, as he postulated in the above quote, the name Mantis vincta as type species is valid.

Furthermore, the " Carvilia " named by Stål (1876, 1877) do not refer to the genus Parasphendale sensu Schulthess-Schindler (1898) . Figures 35 - 46 show the type specimens of the two closely related species Parasphendale affinis Giglio-Tos 1915 and Parasphendale vincta .

Diagnosis. – Medium to large size. Male slender, female robust. Head broader than long. Frontal shield strongly transverse and narrow. Vertex straight in male, convex in female. Eyes in male round and exophthalmic, in female flatter. Pronotum moderately slender, longer than anterior coxa, with distinct, short supracoxal extension, sides at least in female toothed, prozone sometimes granulate. Wings in males exceeding the abdomen, forewings narrow, their costal field subopaque, with parallel veins, hindwings hyaline. Wings in females not reaching the end of the abdomen, forewings opaque, often with pale transverse bands, at most a little longer than pronotum. Hindwings dark, with pale transverse bands. Anterior coxae strongly dentated especially in female, with divergent inner apical lobes, the metazone of the pronotum not or only slightly surpassing. Anterior femora with 4 discoidal and 4 posteroventral spines, granulated between the latter. The tibial spur groove situated proximal to the middle of the tibia. Fore tibiae broad, with 7 posteroventral spines. Meso- and metathoracic legs conspicuously short. Supra-anal plate broader than long. Cerci rather long and simple.

Distribution. – Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Figures

Fig. 1-7. Parasphendale arabukosokokei sp. nov., ♂, holotype. 1. Habitus, dorsal view. 2. Habitus, ventral view. 3. Forefemur, posterior view. 4. Foretibia, posterior view. 5. Forecoxa, anterior view. 6. Forefemur, anterior view. 7. Head, frontal view.

Fig. 35-37. Parasphendale affinis, syntypus ♂, Museo Storia Naturale Genova (MSNG). 35. Habitus, dorsal view. 36. Fore-body, antero-ventral view. 37. Genitalia, ventral view.