Theopropus sinecus qiongae Wu & Liu, 2021

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
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/00F2783E-40DE-5218-8FCD-C5A097FF5FAE
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Theopropus sinecus qiongae Wu & Liu
status	ssp. nov.

Treatment

Theopropus sinecus qiongae Wu & Liu ssp. nov.

Figs 4 View Figure 4 ; 10F View Figure 10 ; 12 View Figure 12 ; 13C View Figure 13 ; 14A, E View Figure 14

Theopropus cattulus , Zhu et al. 2012: 56-58 (erroneously identified).

Material examined.

10♂, 6♀. Holotype. China • 1♂; Hainan, Ledong, Jianfengling Mt., Mingfenggu ; 18°44'75"N, 108°50'28"E; 950 m; 30-VI-2020 ; Chao Wu leg.; IZCAS. Paratypes. China • 2♀; Hainan, Ledong, Jianfengling Mt., Tianchi ; 18°44'25"N, 108°51'37"E; 900 m; 15-XI-2016 GoogleMaps ; Chao Wu leg. IZCAS. • 1♀; Hainan, Ledong, Jianfengling Mt., Tianchi ; 10-IV-2010 ; Xin-Lei Huang leg. IZCAS. • 1♀; Hainan, Baisha, Shuiman, Wuzhishan Mt. ; 18°53'17"N, 109°40'01"E; 750 m; 20-VII-2020 GoogleMaps ; Chao Wu & Cai-Wen Nie leg.; CWC. • 1♀; Hainan, Baisha, Hongkan, Ying'geling Mt. ; 600 m; 23-X-2014 ; Chao Wu leg.; CWC. • 3♂; same as before; IZCAS. • 4♂; Hainan, Qiongzhong, Limushan Mt. ; 700 m; 20-X-2014 ; Chao Wu leg.; CWC. • 1♂ Hainan, Ledong, Jianfengling Mt., Mingfenggu ; 950 m; 28-X-2014 ; Chao Wu leg.; CWC. • 1♀; Hainan, Ledong, Jianfengling Mt., Mingfenggu ; 20-XII-2017 ; Jia-Zhi Zhang leg.; CJZ. • 1♂; same as before.

Description.

Male. Similar to T. s. sinecus (Figs 4A, B View Figure 4 , 10F View Figure 10 ), except the following characteristics: smaller; on surface of forewing, the white subbasal spot of discoidal area small, even disappearing in some specimens; white band at the middle of discoidal area narrow, the two black parallel arc-shaped lateral borders of the white band converging at their distal ends in rare instances; hindwing base reddish brown, with red-brownish veins.

Female. Similar to T. s. sinecus but smaller. The forewing is similar to male, white spot in base of discoidal area small or indistinct, white band in middle of discoidal area narrow; hindwings opaque, maize-yellow, with hyaline margin.

Discussion.

Zhu et al. (2012) identified the specimens from Hainan Island as Theopropus cattulus (Westwood, 1889). After checking the pictures of the types of T. cattulus Westwood, 1889 in "The Mantodea Image Database" https://specimens.mantodearesearch.com/default/zoom/835, we found that there is only a small black spot on each lateral margin of the metazone in T. cattulus , whereas, in those specimens from Hainan Island, a black band extends backwards on each lateral margin of metazone. Also, Theopropus cattulus is endemic on Java, Indonesia. Thus, we think the identification of these specimens from Hainan Island in Zhu et al. (2012) is wrong. We establish a new subspecies of T. sinecus for these specimens from Hainan Island.

Measurements

(length in mm, holotype in parentheses). Body (head to wings): male 27.9-28.6 (28.5), female 44.9-46.2; body (vertex to abdomen end): male 22.0-26.5 (25.8), female 40.3-42.1; pronotum: male 5.8-6.0(5.9), female 11.6-11.9; fore coxae: male 5.8-6.0 (5.9), female 12.88-13.02; fore femora: male 6.9-7.1 (7.0), female 14.0-14.9; fore tibiae: male 5.2-5.3 (5.2), female 10.4-10.9; middle femora: male 5.9-6.0 (5.9), female 10.3-10.6; hind femora: male 7.0-7.2 (7.1), female 12.0-13.1; forewing: male 20.0-20.1 (20.1), female 28.5-30.0; hindwing: male 18.2-18.9 (18.6), female 24.9-25.9.

Distribution.

China: Hainan Island.

Etymology.

The new subspecies was named after the other name for Hainan Island, Qiong.