Palaeothespis leigongshanensis Ge & Chen

Ge, De-Yan & Chen, Xiang-Sheng, 2008, Review of the genus Palaeothespis Tinkham (Mantodea: Thespidae), with description of one new species, Zootaxa 1716, pp. 53-58 : 55-56

4 Palaeothespis leigongshanensis Ge & Chen n. sp. (Figs. 1–11)

Diagnosis. The new species, P. leigongshanensis , clearly differs from P. oreophilus , P. pallidus and P. stictus in the following characters: The surface of pronotum rough with more tubercles, especially in the female; the tegmina with more dark brownish spots and legs with black or dark green spots.

Description. Male Holotype (Figs. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10):

Head: Head narrowly transverse, scarcely broader than the pronotum, vertex flat with small post-ocular humps. Ocelli small, a little tubercle shaped and directed to the front. Eyes large, somewhat projecting forward. Frontal shield (sclerite) with strongly arcuate margin and some small black spots. Antenna long, thin, and more ciliate ( Fig.10 ).

Thorax: Pronotum short and yellow brownish with more disk-like tubercles, those tubercles are small on the prozona surface and there is a pair of very large tubercles situated near the transverse sulcus (between prozona and metazona). Metazona with two pairs of large tubercles, tubercles situated near transverse sulcus remarkably larger than those situated near the basal margin of metazona, lateral margins with more small denticles. Supra-coxal expansion moderate but distinct (Fig. 2, 4).

Tegmina extending beyond the tip of the abdomen long and narrow, with more large or small black spots. Veins parallel and closely spaced with two rows of large regular cells; costal field narrow with black spots. Wings transparent, with scatterred dark brownish spots, except in the middle area and extending beyond the apex of tegmina.

Legs distinctly slender. Fore coxae more or less shorter than pronotum, fore femora about the same length of the pronotum and fairly slender with 4 discoidal spines, 4 external spines and 11 internal spines. Middle and hind legs long, slender, with dark spots, and internally somewhat greenish.

Abdomen: Brownish yellow and slender with small lobes on the lateral sides of each segment.

Measurements: Total length to tegmina tips: 36.0 mm, total length to wing tips: 39.0 mm, head width: 3.7mm, pronotum length and width: 6.5 and 3.5 mm respectively, prozona 2.9 mm, metazona 3.6 mm, fore coxae: 6.0 mm, fore femora: 7.5 mm, antennae: about 21mm.

FIGURES 1–5. Palaeothespis leigongshanensis Ge & Chen n. sp., Fig.1, pronotum of female; Fig. 2, pronotum of male; Fig.3, pronotum of female; Fig.4, pronotum of male; Fig.5, 1–4th segments of female abdomen, left side. Scale bars: Figs. 1–2 = 1mm; Figs. 3–4 = 2mm, (1–2. dorsal view; 3–5. lateral view.)

Female Paratype (Figs. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11):

Head: Body brownish, with black and dark green spots on the legs, head broader than that of male with large post-ocular humps. Ocelli bigger than in male and antennae thin and short ( Fig. 7, 9, 11 ).

Thorax: Pronotum wider and with more prominently large tubercles especially at the each side of transverse sulcus, three pairs of tubercles situated on each side of the median, remarkably bigger than tubercles in the male; beside theses large tubercles, more disk-like tubercles distributed on the prozona surface and near sulcus, denticles on the lateral margins somewhat blunter than those in the male (Fig. 1, 3, 5). Tegmina and wing-pads fused to the thoracic segments ( Fig. 7, 11 ).

Abdomen: Central dorsal portion of the second, the third and the fourth abdominal segments produced into large foliaceous lobes; lateral dorsal portion with more fingerlike tubercles (Fig. 5). The lobe on the third segment is bigger than those on the second and fourth segments.

Measurements: Head width: 4.8 mm, pronotum length and breadth: 7.2 and 5.0 mm respectively, prozona 2.8 mm, metazona 4.4 mm, fore coxae: 6.5 mm, fore femora: 7.8 mm, antenna: about 5.0 mm.

Material examined. Holotype ɗ: Leigong Mountain National Natural Reserve, Leishan County, Guizhou Province, China, 13.IX.2005, Qiong-Zhang Song.

Paratype Ψ: Same locality as for holotype, 14.IX.2005, Zhi-Jie Wang.

Etymology. This species is named after the type locality, Leigongshan National Natural Reserve, Leishan County, Guizhou Province.

Discussion. Unfortunately, we did not find the ootheca of this new species, but ootheca of P. s t i c t u s Zhou & Shen was obtained by keeping the female in laboratory for several days. The ootheca of this species is very small with about 15– 20 eggs, so the population density is likely to be low and it is very difficult to find specimens in the field.

Figures

FIGURES 6 – 11. Palaeothespis leigongshanensis Ge & Chen n. sp. (Holotype Male, Paratype Female), Fig. 6, male; Fig. 7, head and pronotum of female; Fig. 8, head and pronotum of male; Fig. 9, head and pronotum of female; Fig. 10, male; Fig. 11, female (6 – 7, lateral view; 8 – 11, dorsal view).