Musonia margharethae ( Battiston & Picciau, 2008 )

Rivera, Julio & Vergara-Cobián, Clorinda, 2017, A checklist of the praying mantises of Peru: new records, one new genus (Piscomantis gen. n.) and biogeographic remarks (Insecta, Mantodea), Zootaxa 4337 (3), pp. 361-389 : 364

6. Musonia margharethae ( Battiston & Picciau, 2008) (comb. n.) (new record) [AN, IC, LA, LI, LL, PI, TA, TU]

Musoniella margharethae Battiston & Picciau, 2008

Type locality. Battiston & Picciau (2008): 5 Km. East of Catamayo , in Loja ( Ecuador).

Examined material. TUMBES: 3 ♂, VIII.2000 (P. Castillo, leg.) , 11.III.1992 (UNALM), 1 ♀, Puerto Pizarro (on ground with grass), 31.V.2001 (S. Kelez leg.) ( UNALM) . PIURA : 1 ♂, Piura, 25.VII.1968 (O. Velarde leg.) ( UNALM) . LAMBAYEQUE : 1 ♂, Olmos , 30.V.1999 (Valencia leg.) ( UNALM) ; 1 ♀, Mochumí , 21.I.2001 (A. Albújar leg.) ( UNALM). LA LIBERTAD : 1 ♀, Trujillo, 8.IX.1983 (J. Amaya leg.) ( UNALM) ; 1 ♂, Moche , 11.VIII.1996 (R. Castillo leg.) ( UNALM) . ANCASH: 1 ♂, Casma , 18.VI.2000 (M. Sánchez leg.) ( UNALM) . LIMA : 1 ♂, La Molina , campus UNALM, 14.I.2000 (C. Vergara leg.) ( UNALM) ; 1 ♂, campus UNALM, 20.XI.1999 (J. Rivera leg.) ( UNALM) ; 1 ♀, Lima, Pueblo Libre , 5.II.1962 (R. García leg.) ( MUSM) ; 1 ♂, Lima, Cieneguilla , 10.V.2000 (H. Quiros) ( UNALM) ; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀, Lima, Chorrillos, Pantanos de Villa (on herbaceous vegetation), VI.1999 (C. Véliz leg.) ; 1 ♀ (nymph), Lima, Chorrillos, Pantanos de Villa nr. “ Las Garzas ” Club , (running on open ground with patches of grass), IV.2002 (J. Rivera leg.) ( UNALM) ;1 ♂, Huarochirí, Chosica, 10.VII.1972 (B. Risco leg.) (UNALM); 1 ♂, Huarochirí, Santa Eulalia, 15.I.1996 (I. Hidalgo leg.) (MUSM); 1 ♀, Lima, Cañete, Lunahuaná , 13. IV.2001 (Tello leg.) ( UNALM) . ICA : 2 ♂, Chincha , II.1989 (J. Herrera leg.) ( UNALM) ; 1 ♂, 24.IV.1990 (C. leg.) (UNALM); 1 ♂, Ica, Fundo “ Arrabal ”, Subtanjalla (semi-rural area), 350m, 24.III.2003 (J. Cervantes leg.) ( UNALM) . TACNA : 1 ♂ and 1 ♀, La Yerada, asentamiento 5 y 6, fundo “ La Universidad ” 250m, on clumps of grass, IV.2007 (R. Alanoca leg.) ( UNALM) .

Remarks. Originally described under Musoniella by Battiston and Picciau (2008), our analysis of the original description suggests that margharethae is a good species but not a member of this genus. The shape of its head, pronotal proportions, foreleg spination and the conformation of male genitalia, suggest it is referable instead to Musonia Saussure. Biogeographic evidence compiled by Rivera & Svenson (2016) showed that Musoniella is restricted to the semi-arid biomes of southern South America, whereas Musonia is distributed in similar environments but north of the Amazon and east of the Andes along the Pacific lowlands, as far south as northern Chile, and southern Central America (Rivera & Svenson, unpublished). We are tentatively assigning the populations distributed along the Peruvian Pacific lowlands to this species based on similarities observed in male genital structures and body metrics sensu Battiston and Picciau (2008). Rivera (2003b) mistakenly reported this species from Peru as Musonia surinama (Saussure, 1869) , a species restricted to northern South America.