Stagmomantis limbata (Hahn, 1835)

Maxwell, Michael R., 2014, A synoptic review of the genus Stagmomantis (Mantodea: Mantidae), Zootaxa 3765 (6), pp. 501-525 : 516

Stagmomantis limbata (Hahn, 1835)

Taxonomic history. First described as Mantis limbata by Hahn (1835). Assigned to Stagmomantis by Beier (1935). At least seven synonyms, including Mantis cellularis (given in Burmeister 1838), Mantis viridimargo (given in Burmeister 1838), Mantis asteca (given in Saussure 1859), Stagmomantis latipennis (given in Giglio-Tos 1927), Auromantis limbata (given in Giglio-Tos 1917, 1927).

Distribution. USA, Mexico, Central America, Venezuela (Ehrmann 2002; Agudelo et al. 2007).

Species description. Saussure and Zehntner (1894), brief; Hebard (1923a); Giglio-Tos (1927), as Auromantis ; Helfer (1987), brief.

Features. Male features: forewings with green or light-colored opaque marginal strip; hindwings often have dark spots; edge of pronotum is finely denticulated in the prozone; dorsal surface of abdomen is yellow (Hebard 1923a; Giglio-Tos 1927; Helfer 1987). Female features: hindwings are tessellated with yellow spots; stigma is white or cream-colored in green individuals; stigma is typically brown in brown individuals; edge of pronotum is finely denticulated from anterior to middle (Saussure and Zehntner 1894; Giglio-Tos 1927; Helfer 1987). In both sexes, brown individuals often have two dark bands on anterior tibiae and three dark bands on anterior femora; these bands are typically absent in green individuals (Hebard 1923a; Maxwell, unpublished data). S. limbata has been the subject of much recent behavioral and ecological research (Maxwell 1998; Maxwell and Eitan 1998; Fagan and Folarin 2001; Fagan 2002; Fagan et al. 2002; Ries and Fagan 2003; Maxwell et al. 2010a,b).