Didymocorypha libaii Wu & Liu, 2020

Wu, Chao & Liu, Chun-Xiang, 2020, New record of Didymocorypha Wood-Mason (Mantodea, Eremiaphilidae) from China, with description of a new high-altitude wingless mantis species in Asia, ZooKeys 922, pp. 51-64 : 51

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.922.47987
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6A2670F0-0040-4330-A2E8-C39ADE6C03E9
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/B5D329E2-4E92-4853-911E-C6753EE240F3
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:B5D329E2-4E92-4853-911E-C6753EE240F3
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Didymocorypha libaii Wu & Liu
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Didymocorypha libaii Wu & Liu sp. nov. Figs 1B-D View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 , 3 -D, 4B, C, 5A, B, 5D, E, 6B, C, 7 View Figure 3

Material examined.

Holotype. China • ♂; Tibet, Gyirong County; 28.404N, 85.332E; 3300 m; 20-VII-2017; Chao Wu leg.; IZCAS. Paratypes. China • 4 ♂ 6 ♀; Tibet, Gyirong County; 28.397N, 85.351E; 2800~3300 m; 18~21-VII-2017; Chao Wu leg.; IZCAS • 3 ♂ 3 ♀; ditto; CWC • 1♀; ditto; CJZ • 1 ♀; Tibet, Gyirong County; 28.363N, 85.339E; 2672 m; 1-VIII-2018; Jin-Cheng Liu leg.; CWC.

Description.

Holotype. Male. Slim (Figs 1B, C View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 , 3A View Figure 3 , 3C View Figure 3 ).

Head: lanceolate. Paired juxtaocular bulges united into a conical extension with a complete median dorsal suture and a deep vertical ventral groove (Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ). Compound eyes long, oval, not bulging. Three ocelli, small, not obvious (Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ). Lower frons approximately trapezoidal, approximately as wide as high.

Thorax: pronotum longer than head, slender, about 3 times as long as wide. Prozona almost as wide as metazona. Mesothorax similar to metathorax, simple, nearly trapezoidal. Thorax with distinct medial keel. Wingless.

Prothoracic legs: fore coxa smooth, unarmed, shorter than metazona; fore femur as long as coxa, with a strongly-developed genicular spur (Fig. 5B View Figure 5 ), 4 posteroventral, 4 discoidal, 15-16 anteroventral spines, and without dilation on dorsal surface (Fig. 5A,B View Figure 5 ); claw groove lying basally to middle of fore femur; fore tibia about half as long as femur, with 5-6 posteroventral, 10 anteroventral tibial spines and 1 strong tibial spur; fore tarsus longer than tibia; basal tarsomere (= basitarsus) longer than total length of remaining segments.

Meso- and metathoracic legs: slim without expansions and with one small femoral genicular spur and one obvious tibial spur. Tarsus much shorter than tibia; basal tarsomere short, less than total length of remaining segments. Metathoracic legs longer and stronger than mesolegs.

Abdomen: almost as wide as pronotum. Each abdominal segment similar, nearly square; tergite 10 (Supra-anal plate) broad, widely trianglar. Cerci possessing 15 joints, with distal joints gradually becoming longer distad. Each of last 3 joints longer than wide (Fig. 5E View Figure 5 ). Coxosternite 9 (subgenital plate) nearly triangular, slightly asymmetrical, with a pair of styli.

External genitalia (Fig. 6B, C View Figure 6 ): relatively large-sized. Left phallomere narrow and long, posterior process of ventral phallomere (spd) indistinct; phalloid apophysis (afa) short, wide and strongly sclerotized, with a spine-like projection; posterior process of left phallomere (paa) with a finger-like extension, with a small obtuse tubercle in middle, and with a brush-like cluster of hairs on base.

Female. Similar to male, but distinctly larger and stronger (Figs 1B View Figure 1 , 5C View Figure 5 ).

Measurements (Length in mm, Holotype in parentheses). Body: male 28.30-28.75 (28.45), female 32.50-35.15; head: male 5.85-5.95 (5.94), female 7.45-7.55; pronotum: male 5.35-5.39 (5.39), female 6.95-7.10; fore coxae: male 3.13-3.18 (3.15), female 4.11-4.20; fore femora: male 4.10-4.13 (4.11), female 4.62-4.80; fore tibiae: male 2.25-2.30 (2.27), female 2.85-3.02; middle femora: male 4.42-4.51 (4.45), female 5.70-5.79; hind femora: male 6.20-6.27 (6.25), female 7.43-7.52; cercus: male 5.45-5.50 (5.47), female 7.30-7.35.

Diagnosis.

The new species is distinguished from D. lanceolata by small body size, small and indistinct male ocelli, wingless male adults, comparatively large-sized genitalia, ventral phallomere without secondary distal process (sdp), additional obtuse tubercle on paa and different structure of afa (Fig. 6 View Figure 6 ).

Coloration

(Figs 2 View Figure 2 , 3 View Figure 3 ). Monotonous, tawny, dry-grass-like, densely covered with little black spots. Some specimens possessing irregular black patches. Spines of fore legs brown.

Life history.

The new species often lives at the bottom of bushes in a variety of angiosperms (Figs 2 View Figure 2 , 3A-D View Figure 3 ) in high-altitude coniferous forest. Nymphs were found to be clustering (Fig. 3B View Figure 3 ), without cannibalism. This peaceful situation is an exception for mantis. The mating (Fig. 3D View Figure 3 ) is also peaceful, and needs up to 4-8 hours. Female lays their oothecae on the fifth day after mating. Oothecae are fusiform, withered-leaf-like. Each ootheca contains 4-10 eggs (Fig. 1D View Figure 1 ). Color of ootheca varies from light to very dark brown. External wall of cotheca is thin, sparse.Oothecae did not hatch successfully in the laboratory probably due to significant elevation differences from the mantis’s natural habitat. In field, the mantis species prey on small-sized insects (e.g., Diptera , Hemiptera and Collembola ) (Fig. 3C View Figure 3 ), based on our observations.