Elaea marchali ( Reiche & Fairmaire, 1847 )

Schwarz, Christian J., Pohl, Marius & Frank, Erik T., 2023, A preliminary checklist of the praying mantids of Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast (Insecta: Mantodea), Zootaxa 5373 (1), pp. 1-64 : 17-18

Elaea marchali ( Reiche & Fairmaire, 1847)

Figs. 36–39 , 41

Eremiaphila marchali Reiche & Fairmaire, 1847: 424–426 , pl. 27, Fig. 5 .

= Humbertiella perloides Saussure, 1869: 61–62 .

= Elaea somalica Schulthess-Schindler, 1898: 170–171 .

Type localities. (E. m.) Ethiopia; (H. p.) Senegal; (E. s.) Uebi, Ethiopia.

Distribution. Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Tchad, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia ( Beier 1937, 1961, 1968; Chopard 1932, 1935, 1938, 1940a, b, 1952, 1963; Giglio-Tos 1917b; Gillon & Roy 1968; La Greca 1939, 1950a, b; Prost & Roy 1986; Rehn 1901, 1911; Reiche & Fairmaire 1847; Roy 1964a, 1967, 1968b, 1969, 1970b, 1971a, b, 1978; Saussure 1869; Schulthess-Schindler 1898; Werner 1912; pers. obs.).

Records. CSC: ♀, old camp, 24.X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; juv. ♀, old camp, 25.X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♁ ♀ + juv. ♀, new station, 03.IV.–12.V.2017, M. Pohl leg.; ♁ ♀, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg.

Remarks. Widely distributed in the Guinea and Sudan savannas of northern Africa, from Senegal to Somalia. Nymphs and adult females of this bark mantis prefer the lowest portions of trunks, while males are more active and also found in other microhabitats. Already recorded from CNP by Gillon & Roy (1968).

Figures

FIGURES 36–39. Elaea marchali (Reiche & Fairmaire, 1847). 36–37. Female. 38–39. Male. 36, 38. Dorsal view. 37, 39. Ventral view.

FIGURES 40–41. Live aspects. 40. Amorphoscelis tigrina, female nymph. Note enlarged cercal segments. 41. Elaea marchali, female.

FIGURES 5–7. Habitat types of the CNP. 5. Forest island. 6. Gallery forest. 7. Interior view of gallery forest.