Chromatophotina cofan Rivera

Rivera, Julio, 2010, Chromatophotina, a remarkable new genus of praying mantid from the Neotropical Region and its two new species (Mantodea: Mantidae, Photinainae), Zootaxa 2415, pp. 22-32 : 28-29

Chromatophotina cofan Rivera n. sp.

( Figures 1 D, 4A–C)

Type material. Holotype female: Ecuador: Sucumbios, Coca/Lago Agrio, San Pedro de los Cofanes, 415m, 0º08’S 77º52’W, 23/23.IX. 1997 (C, Amégdégnato & S. Poulain leg.). The specimen was collected in a young secondary forest. Deposited at MNHN.

Description. Body green with yellow blotches on abdominal tergites; pronotum with white longitudinal stripe on each side. Measurements (in mm): body length, 37.0; head width: 5.3; pronotum, 13.0; fore coxa, 8.0; fore femur, 9.5; fore tibia, 5.5; mesothoracic wing: length 15.5, width 5.5; metathoracic wing, 12.0.

Head pentagonal in shape ( Figure 4 A), juxtaocular tubercles weakly developed, as elevated as the vertex, forming a more or less continuous outline with the vertex; frontal shield transversal, approximately 6 times as wide as long. Antenna filiform, slightly over 10 mm long, yellowish in their basal third, progressively turning darker towards the tip.

Thorax. Pronotum slender ( Figure 4 B); lateral edges almost smooth. Coxae of fore legs ( Fig. 4 C) with margins exhibiting small denticles, other surfaces generally smooth. Spination formula: F=16IS/5ES/3DS and T=18-17IS/19ES. Mesothoracic wings opaque, green except for the costal area which is white and covered with white, dusty matter. Metathoracic wings short and squarish; costal area greenish-white; discal and anal areas bright yellow, opaque.

Abdomen. Supra-anal plate trapezoidal in shape, convex distally. Cerci greenish brown dorsally but each segment mostly dark brown ventromedially.

Male unknown.

Etymology. A noun in apposition, the specific epithet refers to the Cofán , indigenous people inhabiting northern Ecuador in the same general areas where the type specimen was obtained. As with many other indigenous peoples from the Amazon, the Cofán are in a constant struggle to preserve their territories and communities as these have been severely reduced within the last decades. The gender is female.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Chromatophotina awajun n. sp.: A, male holotype (dorsal habitus); B, female paratype (dorsal habitus); C, female paratype, living specimen. Chromatophotina cofan n. sp.: D, female holotype (dorsal habitus).

FIGURE 4. Chromatophotina cofan (female holotype): A, head, (frontal view); B, pronotum (dorsal view); C, fore coxa, femur and tibia (external view).