Decimiana elliptica, Menezes, Eliomar da Cruz & Bravo, Freddy, 2012

Menezes, Eliomar da Cruz & Bravo, Freddy, 2012, A new species of Decimiana Uvarov (Insecta, Mantodea, Acanthopidae) from Brazil, with remarks on the distribution of Decimiana bolivari (Chopard), ZooKeys 236, pp. 55-64 : 56-59

Decimiana elliptica sp. n. Figures 1-3

Type material.

Holotype male: BRASIL, Bahia, Palmeiras, Posto do Pai Inácio, 12°27.00"S, 41°28.00"W, ca. 900 m a.s.l. 09.XII.2007, Bravo, F., Zacca, T., Silva-Neto, A., Resende, J., & Almeida, C. col., (MZUEFS #42169). Paratype male: BRASIL, Bahia, Mucugê, Chapada Diamantina, Parque Municipal de Mucugê, 30.I.2011, light trap, Mahlmann, T. & Hipólito cols. (UFBA).

Etymology.

The name makes reference to the shape the anterior lobe of the left dorsal phallomere.

Diagnosis.

Compound eyes conical with apical tubercle; mesothoracid wings opaque, brown, with costal margin slightly concave; posterior wings with black bands between the crossveins; anterior process of the left dorsal phallomere with distal sclerotized lobe elliptical.

Description male.

Body stout, brown (Fig. 1), length 38.64-42.68 mm from head to subgenital plate.

Head (Fig. 2A). Triangular, 1.67 times as wide as width of supracoxal dilatation. Antennae moniliform, brown, 1.07 times the length of the pronotum. Ocelli developed, elliptical. Vertex: rectilinear, below the imaginary line connecting top of compound eyes (not including the apical tubercle). Frontal shield transversal, 0.53 times wider than high.

Thorax. Pronotum, 0.27 times as long as length of body, 4.87 times longer than its smallest width, lateral margins smooth, surface with scattered small tubercles, distributed along sides of the medial carina (Fig. 2B). Prozona: anterior margin rounded, lateral margins slightly convergent. Metazona 2.05 times as long as length of prozona, with two basal flattened tubercles.

Fore legs. Coxae: stout, reaching base of proesternum, 0.75 as long as length of pronotum; anterior, posterior, and external margins with minute dispersed spines; posterior external face with small scattered tubercules, inner face with some circular ocher spots. Fore femora: stout, triangular, 0.94 times as long as the length of the pronotum; external face with small tubercules; 16 inner spines, except the spines of the genicular lobes; femoral spines of the three series black at tip. Fore tibiae: 0.55 as long as length of pronotum (not including the tibial claw); 20-21 external spines in left leg and 18-19 in right leg; 16 inner spines; external and inner tibial spines black at tips.

Mesothoracic wings: 3.29 times as long as length of pronotum, surpassing the abdomen at rest, and same length as posterior wings. Surface opaque and brown. Costal margin slightly concave and with small apical lobe (Fig. 2C). Venation brown. Venules of the costal area anastomosed.

Mid legs: pubescent; femora and tibiae 0.58 times as long as length of pronotum; first tarsomere shorter than length of all remaining tarsomeres.

Metathoracis wings: 3.03 times as long as length of pronotum, surface semi-hyaline; venation brown.

Hind legs: pubescent; femur 0.70 times as long as length of pronotum; tibiae 0.73 times as long as length of pronotum; first tarsomere shorter than length of all remaining tarsomeres.

Abdomen. Cylindrical; second to fourth and sixth tergite with distal black stripe, fifth tergite black; fourth and sixth tergite with rounded lateral lobe. Supranal plate: 1.47 times wider than length, distal margin bidentate (Fig. 2D). Cerci: bristly, cyli ndrical, eight cercomeri, last cercomerum cylindrical or bilobed (Fig. 2E) and slightly flattened. Subgenital plate: pubescent, oval (Fig. 2F). Styles: bristly, separated, small or more developed (Fig. 2G).

Phallic complex. Right dorsal phallomere. Dorsal lamina triangular (Fig. 3A). Mid arm: developed, arched. Anterior apodeme long and narrow. Ventral plate sclerotized, well developed, trapezoidal, projected, with transverse grooves. Ventral process sclerotized, curved and well developed, as long as of ventral plate, forming acute angle backward (Fig. 3B).

Left dorsal phallomere. Dorsal lamina: ample, basal region narrow; right basal region membranous (Fig. 3C). Ventral lamina long and wide forming an anterior process, with distal sclerotized elliptical dentate lobe, connected to a lateral row of teeth which can be undeveloped (Fig. 3D). Apical process flattened, folded toward base of phallomere. Phalloid apophysis membranous, forming a relatively large and pilose lobe. Membranous lobe wide (approx. half the width of dorsal lamina), rounded and with long hair.

Ventral phallomere (Figs 3E, 3F). Elongated (aprrox. 1,84 times longer than wide). Tip of the right margin with well-sclerotized and acute anterior process, its surface covered with denticles. Distal process sclerotized, upward, with small denticles on anterior margin.

Female unknown.

Measurements

(mm). Holotype: body length 38.64, pronotum length 10.6, mesothoracic wings 34.93, metathoracic wings 32.2, fore coxae 8.0, fore femura 9.97, fore tibiae 5.91, mid femura 6.15, mid tibiae 6.15, hind femura 7.4, hind tibiae 7.82. Paratype: body length 42.68, pronotum length 11.71, mesothoracic wings 38.58, metathoracic wings 35.57, fore coxae 8.83, fore femura 11.01, fore tibiae 6.52, mid femura 6.79, mid tibiae 6.79, hind femura 8.17, hind tibiae 8.63.

Type localities.

The type specimens were collected in two localities in the Chapada Diamantina Mountain Range in Bahia State, northeastern Brazil: Parque Municipal de Mucugê (municipality of Mucugê) and near a mountain known as Morro do Pai Inácio (municipality of Palmeiras) (Fig. 4). The Chapada Diamantina represents the northern portion of the Espinhaço Range ( Rocha et al. 2005) and according Velloso et al. (2002) it is considered an eco-region of the Caatinga (dryland) Biome, with a rainy season generally from November to April. The vegetation of the Chapada Diamantina is a mosaic of “caatinga”, "cerrado de altitude", "campos rupestres", and semideciduous and deciduous forests.