Glabromantis Sjöstedt, 1918

Milledge, Graham A., 2024, Review of the genera Glabromantis, Paraoxypilus, and Phthersigena (Mantodea: Nanomantidae: Fulciniinae), Records of the Australian Museum 76 (2), pp. 69-103 : 79

Glabromantis Sjöstedt, 1918

Glabromantis Sjöstedt 1918: 12 . Type species Glabromantis nebulosa Sjöstedt, 1918 by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Members of this genus can be distinguished from other members of the Paraoxypilini , by having the anterior margin of the forecoxa unarmed, by lacking a distinct spine at the corner of the pronotum and by the females having only slightly reduced wings.

Description. Body rather small, colour some shade of brown or grey.

Head wider than high, with a pair of prominent apophyses on the vertex beside each eye, otherwise smooth; frontal shield wider than high, with pronounced sub antennal ridge. Antennae fine and filamentous, twice as long as prothorax in female, about five times as long as prothorax in male.

Pronotum short and broad, distinct supracoxal expansion without spine at each corner (or very small one in some females), surface relatively glabrous with a few ridges and bumps, margins smooth, median carina without prominent projections.

Forecoxae longer than pronotum, anterior margin unarmed, inner face smooth, outer face dived by strong longitudinal ridge. Fore femur slightly expanded dorsally, inner face with or without contrasting markings, outer face with central longitudinal ridge; claw groove at midpoint, deep and pronounced; ventrally with three discoidal spines, in length from longest to shortest 2 1 3, outer row of five small spines, inner row of five spines and double row of small tubercles between spines one and two; area between inner and outer spines tuberculate, often with several low sclerotized ridges and with central longitudinal depression in which the tibia rests. Fore tibia without spines but with inner row of small tubercles near claw corresponding to similar row on femur; outer face slightly concave, inner face marked with or without contrasting colours.

Male with wings longer than abdomen, forewings translucent to semi opaque, hindwings mostly hyaline; female slightly brachypterous, wings reaching to base of supra-anal plate. Mesonotum and metanotum without projections on carina.

Mid and hind legs slender, unmodified, often with pale banding.

Abdomen of male elongate, narrow, lateral margins slightly expanded; abdomen of female with lateral margins slightly expanded, otherwise unmodified; supra-anal plate of male shorter than subgenital plate, that of female elongate, covering ovipositor, carinate with blunt pointed tip. Cerci short, about the same length as supra-anal plate in male, about half the length of supra-anal plate in female. Female genitalia with apical lobe of gonapophysis 8 prominent and spatulate. Male with relatively short styli.

Remarks. As mentioned previously, the genus Glabromantis has been confused with Phthersigena by previous authors primarily due to the erroneous association of a female Glabromantis with the male of the type species of Phthersigena by Giglio-Tos (1913). It is here regarded as a separate genus.