Ameles andreae (Galvagni, 1976)

Battiston, Roberto, Correas, José, Lombardo, Francesco, Mouna, Mohamed, Payne, Keith & Schütte, Kai, 2018, Morphological convergences in Ameles Burmeister and Pseudoyersinia Kirby: Taxonomic implications of wing reduction and flight predisposition in some West-Mediterranean Amelini (Insecta: Mantodea), Zootaxa 4377 (1), pp. 21-38 : 23-25

Ameles andreae (Galvagni, 1976) (n. comb.)

Pseudoyersinia andreae Galvagni, 1976

= Ameles insularis Agabiti, Ippolito & Lombardo, 2010 (n. syn.)

Type. Holotype ♀ (MCRA).

Type locality. Sardinia, Bruncu Spina.

Distribution. Italy (Sardinia), Spain (Mallorca).

Examined material. Italy: 1 ♂, 7 ♀: Sardegna, Tempio Pausania, Monte Limbara - Saltu di lu pisciaroni, 920m, 20.IX.2013 ; 2 ♂, 1 ♀, Ghenna a petta, Ss 125 km 187 to Urzulei , 915m, 22.IX.2013, leg. R. Battiston, coll. R. Battiston,.

Taxonomic notes: In 1976 Galvagni described this rare endemic ground mantid species from Sardinia based on two female specimens. Galvagni classified his new species in Pseudoyersinia because of its marked wing reduction, and the absence of the characteristic red pigmentation of the hind wings present in all the other females of Ameles . The finding of macropterous males, together with females, in the locality of the paratypes now permits relocating this species to Ameles .

In 2010 Agabti et al. described A. insularis based on a macropterous male collected in the Balearic Island of Mallorca. After comparing our specimens with the type material of A. insularis we concluded that their morphology is clearly the same and thus we establish this new synonym.

Diagnosis: Similar to A. assoi and A. decolor but slimmer and with different genitalia (see comparative remarks below). Small and slender species, male 18.91–22.17 mm long. Body colouration green to brown. Eyes rounded without apical tubercle, pronotum very narrow (ratio PL/PW>2.5). Pronotal supracoxal dilation narrowly rounded; middle and posterior legs with short, dense hairs. Abdomen cylindrical; cerci long.

Description (male): Head: 1.98 times as wide as pronotal supracoxal dilation. Eyes rounded without apical tubercle; vertex straight, lower than imaginary line joining apex of eyes; frontal shield transverse, upper margin acute, its surface with two longitudinal carinae.

Thorax: pronotum slender, 2.64 times as long as its maximum width; lateral margins smooth; lateral margins of pronotal supracoxal dilation rounded. Forelegs very narrow: forefemora 1.06 times as long as pronotum, and 4.84 times as long as their maximum width; spines darkened with black tips. Mid- and hindlegs slender, bearing short hairs. Flight organs well developed but not covering the tip of the abdomen, forewings reaching the penultimate abdominal segment, whereas hindwings reach the supranal plate. Forewings 3.43 times as long as pronotum, hyaline, with sub-rounded apex; costal field sub-opaque, concolour with the body, with a narrow white strip; stigma, veins of forewings and hindwings, and part of the distal membranous area of the hindwings concolour.

Abdomen: cylindrical. Supranal plate triangular, transverse with rounded apex. Cerci extending beyond apex of subgenital plate, each comprised of 12 segments, all cylindrical except the last one, which is flattened. Genitalia ( Fig. 1 ) with rhomboidal hypophallus, its short distal process bearing two teeth that are separated by a wide and obtuse incision; left epiphallus with a narrow, hook-shaped, titillator; pseudophallus short, its apex rounded, and with a large triangular spine that projects laterally just before the end; right epiphallus wide, bearing numerous short spines.

Remarks. This species seems to be related to the A. assoi group, as both share the presence of a spine on the pseudophallus, a character typical of Pseudoyersinia spp. Nevertheless, Ameles andreae can be distinguished from the A. assoi group for having shorter forewings in both sexes, rounded eyes without tubercle, and a slimmer general habitus. General colouration of both sexes usually green with dorsal, longitudinal white strip (more evident in females); however, a single brown-coloured male was found within the Sardinian population ( Fig. 2 ).

The small hindwings of females exhibit a barely identifiable red tinge, but the same fades away in dry specimens a few months after collection. The overall aspect of this mantid resembles that of the thin leaves of Cistus , a type of bush where they are usually found.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ameles andreae, male genitalia. Left: left epiphallus with titillator and pseudophallus, both in dorsal view (observed variation in the latter shown below in line drawings). Centre: distal process of hypophallus, dorsal view (observed variation shown below in line drawings). Right: right epiphallus in ventral view. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURE 2. Ameles andreae, male habitus from Sardinia (Italy). Photo by R.Battiston.