Mantispa Illiger

Snyman, Louwtjie P., Ohl, Michael, Mansell, Mervyn W. & Scholtz, Clarke H., 2012, A revision and key to the genera of Afrotropical Mantispidae (Neuropterida, Neuroptera), with the description of a new genus, ZooKeys 184, pp. 67-93 : 74-75

Genus Mantispa Illiger

Mantispa Illiger in Kugelann 1798: 499. Type species: Mantis pagana Fabricius, 1775: 278 (= Raphidia styriaca Poda, 1761: 101), by monotypy.

Amycla Rafinesque, 1815: 118. Unjustified emendation of Mantispa Illiger in Kugelann 1798. Amycla was considered an emendation of Mantispa Illiger in Kugelann 1798, by Neave 1939, 1: 167.

Mantispilla Enderlein, 1910: 346 (as subgenus of Mantispa Illiger in Kugelann 1798). Type species: Mantispa indica Westwood, 1852: 268, by original designation. Synonymised with Mantispa by Penny 1982: 217.

Remarks.

The genus was described by Illiger (1798) in a single sentence more than two centuries ago with the European species Mantis pagana Fabricius, 1775 (= Mantispa styriaca (Poda, 1761)) as the type species. It became the best-known Mantispidae genus probably due to the age of the genus, and several species described worldwide were incorrectly assigned to the genus. It therefore became the most speciose genus in the famil y Mantispidae ( Ohl 2004; Machado and Rafael 2010). More recently, Hoffman (2002) proposed that revisions should focus on elucidating the true taxonomy of Mantispa . Newly described genera in the New World replaced the universal Mantispa name that is now restricted to the Old world ( Hoffman 2002; Machado and Rafael 2010). Mantispa might be confined to the Old World but is probably only represented by a few Palaearctic and Oriental species and not by species from the Afrotropics.

Distribution.

Palaearctic genus with some species records from the Afrotropical Region. These countries include Morocco and countries bordering the Arabian Peninsula.

Diagnosis.

Ectoprocts sligtly swollen/enlarged. Pterostigma elongated and dark red. Prothorax with setae and slightly transversely rugulose (Fig. 3g). Fore coxae lack continuous median line on anterior surface (Fig. 4b).