Theopropus sinecus sinecus Yang, 1999 sensu str.

Wu, Chao & Liu, Chun-Xiang, 2021, Notes on the genus Theopropus Saussure (Mantodea, Hymenopodidae) from China, with description of a new species from the Himalayas, ZooKeys 1049, pp. 163-182 : 163

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1049.65295
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1D3720A7-708F-4D52-AD98-54125D34CE64
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scientific name	Theopropus sinecus sinecus Yang, 1999 sensu str.
status

Treatment

Figs 1 View Figure 1 ; 2A View Figure 2 ; 3A View Figure 3 ; 5A, D View Figure 5 ; 6A View Figure 6 ; 7A View Figure 7 ; 8A, D View Figure 8 ; 9B, E View Figure 9 ; 10A, E View Figure 10 ; 11 View Figure 11 ; 12 View Figure 12 ; 13A, B View Figure 13 ; 14C View Figure 14

Type locality.

China: Guangxi, Jinxiu.

Material examined.

17♂, 15♀. Holotype. China • 1♀, Guangxi, Jinxiu ; 18-XI-1981, No type label, CUA ; • 1♂ Paratype. Guangxi, Jinxiu ; 21-IX-1981, No type label, CUA ; • 1♂; Guangxi, Longsheng, Huaping ; 980 m; IX-2009; Ye Liu leg.; IZCAS ; • 3♂; Guangxi, Longsheng, Huaping ; 25°37'28"N, 109°54'07"E; 900-1000 m; 15~ 20-IX-2012; Chao Wu leg.; CWC GoogleMaps ; • 5♀; same as before; • 2♂; Guangxi, Guilin ; 25°19'04"N, 110°23'24"E; 700 m; 13-X-2014; Chao Wu leg.; CWC GoogleMaps ; • 1♀; Guangxi, Jinxiu, Lianhuashan Mt. ; 950 m; 30-IX-2014; Chao Wu leg.; IZCAS ; • 2♂; same as before; • 1♂; Guangdong, Shaoguan, Nanling Mt. ; 24°56'30"N, 113°01'07"E; 1000 m; 10-X-2011; IZCAS GoogleMaps ; • 1♀; Fujian, Nanping, Wuyishan Mt. ; 27°42'25"N, 117°39'04"E; 1200 m; 15-VII-2020; Zhao-Nan Xia leg.; CJZ GoogleMaps ; • 2♀, 5♂; Fujian, Nanping, Wuyishan Mt. ; 27°43'N, 117°40'E; 800-1000 m; 13-VIII-2019; Zhao-Nan Xia leg.; CWC GoogleMaps ; • 1♀, 1♂; Fujian, Nanping, Wuyishan Mt. ; 27°43'N, 117°40'E; 800-1000 m; 9-IX-2020; Chao Wu leg.; CWC GoogleMaps ; • 1♀; Hubei, En’shi, Lichuan, Liangwu ; 1300 m; 8-VIII-2018; Chuan Qin leg.; CJZ ; • 1♂; Yunnan, Honghe, Hekou ; 22°39'12"N, 103°58'52"E; 800 m; 15-XI-2017; Chao Wu leg. CWC GoogleMaps ; • 2♀ same as before. Vietnam • 1♀; N-Vietnam; VIII-2001; other information unknown; CWC.

Redescription.

Male. Large-sized compared with congeners, body length reaching half that of females.

Head: Compound eyes oval, anteriorly protruding, with a very weak conical elongation at tip (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ). Vertical process distinct, coniform, lower than the apex of compound eyes (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ). Lower frons with arched superior margins and raised lateral margins. Antennae filiform, shorter than body length.

Pronotum: Short, lateral pronotal expansion wide. Ratio of pronotum length to supracoxal dilatation width about 1.49-1.53. Lateral margins of the pronotum indistinctly granulated. Lateral margin of metazone with continuous black edge (Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ).

Prothoracic legs: Coxa bearing 6-9 small dorsal spines, femora bearing 15-16 anteroventral spines, tibia bearing 15-16 anteroventral and 18-19 posteroventral spines.

Meso- and metathoracic legs (Figs 2A View Figure 2 , 3A View Figure 3 ): posteroventral genicular lobe on femur long, narrow (Fig. 9E View Figure 9 ). Base half of tibia swollen.

Wings (Figs 2A View Figure 2 , 3A View Figure 3 ): Forewings narrow, long. A wide white band lying in middle of discoidal area; two black parallel arc-shaped borders at lateral margins of the wide white band directing proximad, “))” -shaped; anal area narrow, long, transparent. Hindwings broad, hyaline.

Abdomen: Long, narrow, without lobe. Subgenital plate short, wide, more or less asymmetrical, with styli.

External genitalia: Simplified. Left phallomere wide, secondary distal process (spd) indistinct; phalloid apophysis (afa) short; posterior process of left phallomere (paa) digitiform (Fig. 10A View Figure 10 ).

Female. Similar to male, but body more robust, size larger than that of male. Vertical process distinct, conical, extending beyond apex of eyes (Fig. 5D View Figure 5 ). Pronotum wide, lateral pronotal expansion very wide, ratio of pronotum length to supracoxal dilatation width about 1.37-1.40; black band on each lateral margin of metazone traversed by a white band (Fig. 7A View Figure 7 ). Forewings wide, fusiform, extending beyond abdominal apex. Hindwings broad, opaque. Abodomen broad, nearly rounded, 4th-6th abdominal tergite inconspicuously slightly expanded laterad.

Coloration.

Overall green, with white spots and bands. Antennae black. Lateral margin of metazone band black. The two horizontal ventral bands on prothoracic femora and tibia black in male (Fig. 8A View Figure 8 ), absent on femora for females (Fig. 8D View Figure 8 ). A black ventral spots near prothoracic tibial spur (Figs 6A View Figure 6 , 7A View Figure 7 ). Forewings green, costal area white, discoidal area green; the large subbasal spot of discoidal area white, with black hind edge; wide band in middle of discoidal area white, with black lateral margins; anal area orange in males and white in females. Hindwings orange with red-brownish veins in males, whitish to slightly yellowish with hyaline margin in females. Abdomen yellowish white, plaques on lateral margins of 2th-6th abdominal tergite green (Fig. 9B View Figure 9 ).

Measurements

(length in mm). Body (head to wings): male 28.2-29.3, female 46.3-47.3; body (vertex to abdomen end): male 25.6-27.3, female 44.1-47.1; pronotum: male 5.9-6.0, female 11.9-12.1; fore coxae: male 5.9-6.1, female 13.0-13.7; fore femora: male 7.2-7.3, female 15.0-15.5; fore tibiae: male 5.4-5.41, female 11.1-11.4; middle femora: male 6.0-6.1, female 10.8-11.0; hind femora: male 7.1-7.2, female 13.0-13.5; forewing: male 21.1-21.8, female 29.9-31.8; hindwing: male 18.9-19.2, female 25.0-26.0.

Note.

When examining numerous specimens from Wuyishan, Fujian Province (listed above), we found that they are the same as the types of Theopropus sinecus . Their body is larger than in T. elegans from Malaysia; the compound eyes possess a conical elongation at the tip in males; the black band on each lateral margin of the pronotum is continuous in males, but disconnected in females. In T. elegans , the compound eyes do not have a conical elongation in males, and the black band on the lateral margin of the pronotum is contiguous in both sexes. Also, female hindwings are orange with smoky margins in T. elegans . The specimens of Theopropus from Wuyishan should therefore be identified as T. sinecus sinecus . We think that the record of T. elegans (in Wuyishan, Fujian Province) might have been mistaken by Wang (1993) and Wang and Yang (1999).

Yang (1999) wrote the specimen information in the Chinese description as "Guangxi-Dayaoshan Mt., 1981-VIII, Qijing You leg.", however, the specimens of Theopropus with the same collection information could not be found among Yang’s research specimens. Only one female labeled "Guangxi, Jinxiu; 18-XI-1981" and one male labeled "Guangxi, Jinxiu; 21-IX-1981" could be found. We re-measured these specimens and obtained the following measurements: length of body (head to wings) about 29.3 in male and 45.2 in female, length of forewings about 21.6 in male and 29.2 in female (impaired), in original description, length of body (head to wings) 31 in male and 44 in female, length of forewings about 22 in male and 29 in female. In addition, as the illustration (hand-painted) of the original description is similar to the posture of the female specimen, we confirm that these two specimens are the types of T. sinecus Yang.

Distribution.

China: Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, Hubei; Vietnam.