Phyllothelys qingjinum Liu, Wu, Ye, & Liu, 2024

Liu, Qinpeng, Wu, Chao, Ye, Bowen & Liu, Xingyue, 2024, Integrated taxonomy reveals a new praying mantis species of Phyllothelys Wood-Mason, 1876 (Mantodea, Hymenopodidae) from Yunnan, China, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 132161-e 132161 : e132161-

Phyllothelys qingjinum Liu, Wu, Ye, & Liu sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordNumber: CAU; recordedBy: local collector; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 5D74CD2B-3CE8-5065-82D3-D63DE011F8D4 (Deposited in CAU).; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Malipo, Xiajinchang, Yunling village ; verbatimElevation: 1391 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°9′26″N, 104°51′14″E; Event: eventDate: 10-12-23

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordNumber: CAU; recordedBy: Danyang Zhou; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 409EB288-DFC4-5C3D-9209-62397E320481 (Deposited in CAU).; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Malipo, Xiajinchang, Jinkuxian ; verbatimElevation: 1403 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°11′17″N; 104°49′7″E; Event: eventDate: 08-07-23

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordNumber: CAU; recordedBy: local collector; individualCount: 3; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 1B3263FF-7658-5124-8D69-4E8E25ED748C (Deposited in CAU).; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Malipo, Xiajinchang, Yunling village ; verbatimElevation: 1391 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°9′26″N, 104°51′14″E; Event: eventDate: 10-12-23

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordNumber: IZCAS; recordedBy: local collector; individualCount: 3; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: A7F2E489-7FA6-532B-B02C-873EDF930874 (Deposited in IZCAS).; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Malipo, Xiajinchang, Yunling village ; verbatimElevation: 1391 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°9′26″N, 104°51′14″E; Event: eventDate: 10-12-23

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordNumber: CWC; recordedBy: local collector; individualCount: 2; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 93B1321C-D238-5533-8D96-EB23C5671E12 (Deposited in CWC).; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Malipo, Xiajinchang, Yunling village ; verbatimElevation: 1391 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°9′26″N, 104°51′14″E; Event: eventDate: 10-12-23

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordNumber: CBW; recordedBy: local collector; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 21778A28-5905-593C-BDC3-8A1534C2CA27 (Deposited in CBW).; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Malipo, Xiajinchang, Yunling village ; verbatimElevation: 1391 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°9′26″N, 104°51′14″E; Event: eventDate: 10-12-23

Description

Description of male. Medium-sized Phyllothelys , similar to P. werneri , but body small-sized, lateral pronotal expansion of pronotum comparatively large, subtriangular (Fig. 1 ).

Head. Triangular. Eyes rounded, anteriorly protruding. Ocellar tubercle flat, higher than compound eyes; ocelli elliptical, larger, central ocellus slightly smaller than lateral ocelli. Lower frons sub-pentagonal, about as high as wide, with smooth surface, with prominent top and with obtuse-angle upper margin; clypeus wider than high, with median keel. Vertex with long vertical process, dorsally black, with inflated base and a median keel; vertical process narrow, slightly longer than head, with 2–3 obtuse angular lobes on wavy lateral margin and blunt apex. Antennae filiform, longer than pronotum, but not exceeding body length (Fig. 2 A).

Pronotum. Long and very slender, narrower than head width. Cross section of metazona triangular, dorsal surface of metazona keeled along its mid-line; supracoxal dilation distinct, with obviously lateral pronotal expansion, subtriangular, but without sharp margin, lateral margin with small spines. Lateral margin of pronotum with sparsely arranged black large grainy spines, interleaved small ones; area around large spines on lateral margin black. Ratio of pronotum length to supracoxal dilation width about 4.76–4.90; ratio of metazona length to prozona length about 3.29–3.33. Prosternum flat, brownish, with dense black spots (Fig. 2 B).

Prothoracic legs. Elongate; coxae shorter than metazona of pronotum, with about 6–7 spine-like tubercles on anterior margin, black, interleaved with 2–3 small spines; femora slightly longer than coxae, dorsal margin straight, with a series of sparsely small denticles; femora with 4 posteroventral femoral spines, 4 discoidal spines and 14–15 anteroventral femoral spines, amongst which the first anteroventral femoral spine at distal end is larger than other spines, the spination pattern of which is iIiIiIiIiIiIiiI, posteroventral femoral spines elongate, vertical, with apex slightly bent backwards; tibiae with 12–13 posteroventral tibial spines and 14–15 anteroventral tibial spines, posteroventral and anteroventral spines oblique, gradually lengthening distad. Tarsus slightly longer than tibia, first segment of tarsus longer than combined length of remaining segments (Fig. 2 C, D).

Meso- and metathoracic legs. Slender, slightly elongate. Femora with disjunctive proximal and pre-apical lobes; proximal lobe observably smaller than pre-apical lobe, pre-apical lobe large, semicircular, but with irregular edge. Tibiae shorter than femora; slender, middle of tibiae inflated, becoming slender apicad. Tarsus slightly longer than tibia, first joint of tarsi longer than combined length of remaining segments.

Wings. Forewing long and narrow, subhyaline; apex round; costal area narrow, with small black spots; discoidal area with transparent cells, but more cells smoky; stigma completely reduced. Hind wing wide, shorter than forewing; significantly smoky, subhyaline, except costal field; apex of costal field with black spots (Fig. 2 E).

Abdomen. Abdomen long and narrow, flat, slightly fusiform; with small prominent lateral lobes on tergites 4–6, unobtrusive; sternite 3–6 with vertical lobe, triangular, slightly blunt at tip, with a median carina, the largest one present on sternite 5. Supra-anal plate transverse, with a rounded posterior edge; cerci hairy, slightly flattened, with a conical terminal joint. Male subgenital plate trapezoidal, about as long as wide, with short styli (Fig. 2 F, G).

External genitalia. Weakly sclerotised. Ventral phallomere broad, roughly rhomboidal, significantly pigmented on its lower left side edge; left margin of ventral phallomere weakly sclerotised; lateral secondary distal process small, strongly sclerotised, with numerous spines. L 4 B of left phallomere broad, paa of left phallomere short, digitiform; afa broad, saddle-shaped, strongly sclerotised, with numerous sharp spines (Fig. 3 ).

Colouration. Body entirely brown, slightly moss-coloured when alive (Fig. 4 A, B). Antennae blackish-brown. Dorsal portion of cephalic vertical process black. Interior surface of fore coxae reddish-brown, distally positioned with black area, tubercles on anterior margin black; interior surface of fore femora yellowish-brown, black markings present at base, middle and apex on interior margin, amongst which the former two black markings are united; femoral spines black, except that located on the brown part. Spines on lateral margin of pronotum black; prosternum brownish, scattered with black spots. Forewing blackish-brown, with some smoky stains; translucent, except some cells on distal half completely transparent. Hind wing translucent, blackish-brown, with yellow costal field, discoidal area with yellowish veins. Abdomen ventrally brown, dorsally shiny black; subgenital plate yellowish-brown with black spots, styli and cerci yellowish-brown.

Measurements (length in mm). Body (head to abdomen end): 52.75–54.95; body (head to wings end): 58.60–62.14; pronotum: 15.30–17.76; prozona: 3.46–3.95; metazona: 11.84–13.88; fore coxa: 8.39–10.64; fore femur: 9.36–11.46; fore tibia: 5.55–7.02; hind femur: 7.82–9.35; hind tibia: 6.82–8.54; forewing: 32.03 – 36.79; hind wing: 28.70–33.16.

Distribution. China (Yunnan) (Fig. 4 C).

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Chinese word ‘ 青衿’ (Qingjin), which refers to the green cross-collared deep robe in ancient Hanfu. This term metaphorically refers to the distinct green colouration on the dorsal edge of the pronotum of this species when it is alive.

Figures

Figure 1. Holotype of P. qingjinum sp. nov. A Dorsal view; B Ventral view.

Figure 2. Body annotation of P. qingjinum sp. nov. A Head, frontal aspect; B Pronotum, dorsal view; C Prothoracic leg, dorsal view. D Prothoracic leg, ventral view; E Fore wing; F Abdomen, dorsal view; G Abdomen, ventral view. Abbreviations: vpr = vertical process; lf = lower frons; pz = prozone; lpe = lateral pronotal expansion; mz = metazone; ts = tibial spur; pvfs = posteroventral femoral spines; gs = genicular spur; pvts = posteroventral tibial spines; ds = discoidal spines; avfs = anteroventral femoral spines; avts = anteroventral tibial spines; vsl = vertical sternite lobe; ce = cercus; CS 9 = ♂ coxosternite; sl 9 = stylus.

Figure 3. Male external genitalia of P. qingjinum sp. nov. A General feature of genital segments; B Detail feature of phallic complex. Abbreviations: ce = cercus; t 10 = tergite 10 (= supra-anal plate); sdp = secondary distal process; sl 9 = stylus; afa = anterior process (left phallomere); paa = posterior process (left phallomere).

Figure 4. Living habitus and distribution of P. qingjinum sp. nov. A, B Living habitus by Danyang Zhou (Ziyang, Sichuan, China), published with permission; C Distribution of P. qingjinum sp. nov. and other species in P. werneri species group, created under SimpleMapper (https://www.simplemappr.net. Accessed 07 June 2024).