Metacanthops amazonica ( Beier, 1930 ) Agudelo & Maldaner & Rafael, 2019

Agudelo, Antonio A., Maldaner, Caroline & Rafael, José A., 2019, Dry leaf or twig mantis? A new genus and species of Acanthopidae with sexually dimorphic cryptic strategies (Insecta: Mantodea), Zootaxa 4560 (2), pp. 331-344 : 334

Metacanthops amazonica ( Beier, 1930) n. comb.

Acanthops amazonica Beier, 1930: 29 ( Fig.1 ); 1934: 3; Travassos-Filho 1945: 179; Terra 1995: 29; Ehrmann 2002: 48; Otte & Spearman 2005: 7.

Metilia amazonica ; Roy 2002: 174; Lombardo & Ippolito 2004: 1; Agudelo et al. 2007: 115; Ehrmann & Koçak 2009: 3. Agudelo 2018 (CTFB).

Diagnosis. Body coloration dark brown. Pseudophallus long in relation to titillator, broader at the base, tapering towards the apex, the latter lanceolate, sclerified and sharp, left margins with some denticles, opposite margin with elongated, basal spines, which decrease in length and sclerification level towards the apex. Hypophallus longer than broad, distal apophysis elongated and strongly curved or sinuous.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Cryptic strategies in Acanthopidae: 1, Metilia sp., a male with partially decaying, dry-leaf habitus (specimen from Novo Airão, Amazonas State, Brazil—Photo by Antonio Agudelo); 2: Metilia sp., a female with partially decaying, dryleaf habitus (specimen from Ecuador—Photo by Andreas Key); 3, Metacanthops fuscum (n. sp.), a male with fully dry-leaf habitus (specimen from Reserva Cuieiras, ZF2, Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil—Photo by Antonio Agudelo); 4, Pseudacanthops sp., a female resembling a lichenous twig (specimen from Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil—Photo by Antonio Agudelo).