Jersimantis Grimaldi, 1997

GRIMALDI, DAVID, 2003, A Revision of Cretaceous Mantises and Their Relationships, Including New Taxa (Insecta: Dictyoptera: Mantodea), American Museum Novitates 3412, pp. 1-48 : 22-27

Genus Jersimantis Grimaldi

Jersimantis Grimaldi, 1997: 6 . Type Species: J. luzzii Grimaldi, 1997: 6 (mid­Cretaceous [Turonian] of New Jersey) (fig. 14 herein). By original designation.

DIAGNOSIS (emended): Plesiomorphically as in Chaeteessites minutissimus , with forefemur having ventral row of 3–4 long, fine, stiff setae (no spines); apex of foretibia with two spines (one large, one small), having well­defined articulation points but no spur at the apex of a tibial extension. Differs from Chaeteessites by lacking a medial row of foretibial spinules (instead there are just fine, stiff setae); differs from Amorphoscelites , Cretomantis , and Electromantis by having a slender forefemur and by spination of the foreleg. Apomorphically with vertex bulbous, ocelli absent.

Jersimantis burmiticus , new species

Figures 2c , 15

DIAGNOSIS: Differs from J. luzzi by having bulbous vertex with finely reticulate (vs. smooth) surface; pronotum with pair of low paramedian ridges (vs. none); stiff foretibial setae thicker; ventral surface of forefemur without fine, dense setulae; cerci with 10 segments (vs. 3) that are highly differentiated (described below).

DESCRIPTION: Based entirely on the unique, nymphal specimen, which is completely preserved save for distal flagellomeres (lost at surface of amber). Body length 3.50 mm, including cerci. Specimen is observable dorsally, ventrally, and frontally. Portions of the cuticle are transparent, allowing observation of some usually microscopic or concealed features (i.e., absence of forefemoral brush).

Head: Broad, approximately 1.7X width of pronotum. Eyes large, exophthalmic, with large frontal field. Vertex bulbous, having fine pattern of reticulations on surface; ocelli absent. Mouthparts largely obscured, all but basal segments of palps lost.

Thorax: Pronotum comparatively small

1997).

for mantises, length only slightly more than (1.25X) the width; transverse groove present; with pair of slight, paramedian ridges extended approximately three­quarters the pronotal length. Pronotum with sides curved slightly downward, though not extended along pleura. Legs: Robust, hind pair longest (approximately 1.7X length of forelegs). Foreleg with coxa small, forefemur stout (though no thicker than midfemur); tibia and tarsi slender. Forefemur approximately 1.5X the length of foretibia, 1.3X the length of foretarsi. Forefemur with ventro­lateral row of 4 long, fine, stiff setae; no thick setae or spines, nor dense patch of fine setae on inner surface. Foretibia with two ventral rows of sharp, stiff setae; setae on inner row thicker, spiculate, approximately 6 in row; apex of tibia with pair of thick, stiff, long setae with well­defined articulation. Inner foretibial spine longest, length approximately 3X the width of tibia. All legs with 5 tarsomeres, tarsomere 4 with pulvillar lobe extended ventrally 0.4X length of pretarsus. Midleg with short, fine setae; tibia with pair of fine apical setae on ventral surface, length of longest seta twice the width of tibia. Hind legs long and slen­ der, lengths of femur and tibia equal.

Abdomen: Only 8 segments visible. Pair of short styli between cerci, attached to terminal sternite. Styli extended slightly past midlength of first cercal segment. Cerci very distinctive: 10 segments, basal segment large, nearly one­third length of cercus, with whorl of 4 long, fine, stiff setae at apex; apical 9 segments with basal one largest, having whorl of 4 small setae at apex; distal 8 segments small, tapered apicad to fine point.

TYPE SPECIMEN: Nymph, AMNH Bu170, MYANMAR: Kachin, from mines near Tanai, ex: Leeward Capital Corp. 1999. The specimen is in a piece of dark, transparent amber, 15 X 14 X 7 mm, which contains 9 other arthropod inclusions: 1 Cecidomyidae , 1 Psychodidae , 2 Chimeromyia (Diptera) , 2 Auchenorrhyncha, 1 Coleoptera , 2 larvae. The mantis nymph is slightly distorted by dorsoventral compression of the body and frontal compression of the head.

ETYMOLOGY: From Burma ( Myanmar).

Genus Kazakhophotina Gratshev and Zherikhin

Kazakhophotina Gratshev and Zherikhin, 1993: 156 . Type Species: K. corrupta Gratshev and Zherikhin, 1993: 156 (Upper Cretaceous, Kazakhstan). By original designation.

DIAGNOSIS: Known only as a portion of a wing (PIN 2383/150), defined originally by Gratshev and Zherikhin on basis of the following most significant features: costal field (between Sc and C) distinctly wider than subcostal one (between Sc and R); no intercalary veins between Sc and R; R with 6 apical branches; M 2­branched; CuA with 4 or more branches.

INCLUDED SPECIES: Monotypic.

COMMENTS: The unique specimen on which the genus is based is too incomplete and distorted to include in a phylogenetic analysis and classification.

Figures

Fig. 2. Photomicrographs of Mantodea in Cretaceous ambers. a. Ambermantis wozniaki, new species, holotype AMNH NJ1085, in New Jersey amber. b. Paratype, ibid., AMNH NJ90cc. c. Jersimantis burmiticus, holotype AMNH Bu170, in Burmese amber. d. Burmantis asiatica, holotype, in Burmese amber. For scales, refer to illustrations of specimens.

Fig. 15. Jersimantis burmiticus, new species (holotype), AMNH Bu170, oblique dorsal view, in mid­Cretaceous amber from Myanmar.