Pseudohestiasula, Schwarz, Christian J. & Shcherbakov, Evgeny, 2017

Schwarz, Christian J. & Shcherbakov, Evgeny, 2017, Revision of Hestiasulini Giglio-Tos, 1915 stat. rev. (Insecta: Mantodea: Hymenopodidae) of Borneo, with description of new taxa and comments on the taxonomy of the tribe, Zootaxa 4291 (2), pp. 243-274 : 261-262

Genus Pseudohestiasula gen. nov.

Type species: Pseudohestiasula borneana sp. nov.

Diagnosis. Medium-sized Oxypilinae with moderately dilated femora and reduced styli.

Head with short median process. Pronotum without paramedian spines. Width of dilated part of fore femur smaller than width of non-dilated part. Fore tibia dorsally straight. Meso- and meta-femora with a ventral carina, on meso-femur starting from a very small proximal lobe. Male subgenital plate dorsally with two sclerotized carinae on right side. Styli absent. Dorsal lamina of left phallomere strongly folded along median line, ventral process of right phallomere large, pear-shaped.

Pseudohestiasula gen. nov. differs from Astyliasula gen. nov. by the presence of a process on the vertex and of a ventral lobe at the base of the meso femora, longer fore leg spines, the shorter and wider apical process, and also by the much less dilated dorsal lobe of the fore femora. It can be distinguished from Hestiasula , Ephestiasula , and Catestiasula by the absence of styli and of the membraneous gap along the left edge of the ventral phallomere, and by the presence of sclerotized carinae on the dorsal surface of subgenital plate, a sharply folded dorsal lamina of the left phallomere, and a narrow, digitiform apical process.

Description. Male. Head pentagonal, slightly wider than long. Vertex with a small process. Eyes large, exophthalmic, ocelli large. Scutellum pentagonal, about two times wider than high, with acute apex. Antennae moniliform.

Pronotum short, ovoid, lateral margin with a triangular tooth, metazona slightly longer than prozona. Fore coxae longer than pronotum, with divergent apical lobes, proximal part anteriorly black, distal part pink. Furcasternum longer than metazona of pronotum, anteriorly black, posteriorly pink. Fore femora with dilated, foliaceous dorsal margin, dilated part slightly less wide than ventral part, with 4 discoidal, 4 postero-ventral, and 13–14 antero-ventral spines, claw groove near base. Fore tibiae with 14–16 postero-ventral and 12–13 anteroventral spines, dorsal margin straight. First tarsomere about as long as remaining segments combined.

Mid and hind legs rather short. Femora with a ventral carina, meso-femora also with a small elongate proximal lobe. Meso- and meta-tibiae simple, circular in cross-section. Hind metatarsus slightly shorter than remaining segments combined.

Wings macropterous, longer than abdomen, hyaline, spotted with dark and with dark apex. Costal area narrow, stigma indistinct.

Abdomen simple, without lobes. Supra-anal plate trapezoidal. Cerci short, pilose, last segment conical. Subgenital plate dorsally with two sclerotized carinae on right side. Styli absent.

Genitalia with strongly pigmented processes. Dorsal lamina of left phallomere strongly folded along median line. Distal process spoon-shaped. Phalloid apophysis triangular , slightly bifurcate subapically. Ventral process of right phallomere very large, pear-shaped.

Female and ootheca unknown.

Etymology. The name is the combination of the ancient Greek ψευδής for “false”, and “ Hestiasula ”. Named for its close resemblance to the latter.