Parentella major Giglio-Tos, 1915

Schwarz, Christian J., Pohl, Marius & Frank, Erik T., 2023, A preliminary checklist of the praying mantids of Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast (Insecta: Mantodea), Zootaxa 5373 (1), pp. 1-64 : 11-12

Parentella major Giglio-Tos, 1915

Figs. 15–19 , 22–23

Parentella major Giglio-Tos, 1915: 177 .

= Ligaria senegalensis Roy, 1962: 94–97 , Figs 2–4 , pl. 1, Fig. a.

Type localities. (P. m.) Cameroon; (L. s.) Niokolo-Koba, Senegal.

Distribution. Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Niger, Cameroon ( Giglio-Tos 1915c; Gillon & Roy 1968; Prost & Roy 1986; Ragge & Roy 1967; Roy 1962a, 1967, 1969, 1970b, 1971b, 1975, 1978; Roy & Leston 1975).

Records. CSC: ♁, new station, 03.IV.–12.V.2017, M. Pohl leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 324); ♀, new station, 03.IV.–12.V.2017, M. Pohl leg.; ♁, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg.; ♁, new station, 22.IV.–01.VI.2019, M. Pohl leg.

Remarks. Terricolous taxon widely distributed across the Sudan savanna belt. Females deposit the oothecae underground with the help of a digging device ( Fig. 23 ) evolved at the tips of the gonapophyses VIII ( Chroicoptera type, Wieland 2013).

Figures

FIGURES 15–19. Parentella major Giglio-Tos, 1915. 15–16. Female. 17–19. Male. 15, 17. Dorsal view. 16, 18–19. Ventral view. 19. Genitalia.

FIGURES 20–23. Chroicopteridae, live aspects. 20–21. Gonypetella ivoirensis. 20. Female, lateral view, note myrmecomorphy. 21. Juvenile male, anterior view. 22–23. Parentella major, female. 22. Dorsolateral view. 23. Close-up of digging device.

FIGURES 2–4. Habitat types of the CNP. 2. Open savanna. 3. Bushy savanna. 4. Wooded savanna.