Royacanthops, Moulin & Schwarz, 2023

Moulin, Nicolas & Schwarz, Christian J., 2023, Two new genera of Acanthopidae (Mantodea) from the Amazon region, with description of a new species, Zoosystema 45 (5), pp. 137-161 : 140

Genus Royacanthops n. gen.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CC74D1E3-2BF9-43F5-9518-6AE389CFE63C

TYPE SPECIES. — Acanthops soukana Roy, 2002 by original designation.

DIAGNOSIS. — Habitus typical for the subfamily, brown, resembling a dry leaf, with a slender pronotum as in Plesiacanthops and Miracanthops . Both sexes with convex vertex and prominent, tuberculate juxtaocular bulges; frontal shield with two projections on dorsal margin; pronotum long and relatively slender, with tuberculate prozona and two pairs of stronger tubercles anterior and posterior to supracoxal sulcus, respectively; dorsal margin of forefemora with a small but distinct basal lobe; spination formula of the foreleg F = 4DS/15-19AvS/6PvS; T = 17-22AvS/20-23PvS; forewings with costal margin strongly sinuate; alae shorter than tegmina; abdominal tergites with remarkably large foliaceous lobes; abdominal sternites with three posterior lobes; cerci short, the last segment flattened and indented, with the outer lobe just slightly larger than the inner lobe.

Male. Pronotum with lateral margins of the metazona slightly produced, forming a distinct expansion along its length; walking-leg femora with rounded genicular lobes; subapical margin of forewings with a small but distinct lobe; alae with a triangular apex; genitalia with acute bl, a sinistrally re-curved sdp, a simple, serrated afa, and a large loa consisting of two lobes.

Female. Pronotum with teeth along margin of the metazona; walkingleg femora with acute genicular lobes.

ETYMOLOGY. — Taxon named after Roger Roy (MNHN), for his most valuable work on Mantodea systematics.

DISTRIBUTION. — Brazil, French Guiana ( Fig. 21 ).

Figures

FIG. 21. — Distribution map of Royacanthops soukana (Roy, 2002) n. comb., R. confusa Schwarz & Moulin, n. gen., n. sp. and Parvacanthops parva (Beier, 1942) n. comb. Source: http://www.gadm.org GADM database of Global Administrative Areas.