Stagmatoptera indicator (Olivier, 1792)

Fig. 58.

Mantis indicator Olivier, 1792, p.641 (descr.); Audinet Serville, 1831, p.54 (cit.).

= Mantis hodegetica Lichtenstein, 1802, p.26 (descr.).

= Mantis sancta Stoll, 1813, p.52, t.17, f.63 (descr.)

= Mantis (Acontistes) sancta, Burmeister, 1838, p.542 (descr.).

= Stagmatoptera sancta, Saussure, 1870, p.232 (cit.); Westwood, 1889, p.15 (cit.); Rehn, 1904, p.572 (cit.); Kirby, 1904, p.301 (syn.).

Stagmatoptera indicator, Kirby, 1904, p.301 (cit.); Rehn, 1911, p.13 (cit.); Giglio-Tos, 1914, p.35 (redesc.); Giglio-Tos, 1927, p.600 (redesc.); Terra, 1995, p.64 (cit.); Ehrmann, 2002, p.329 (cit.); Agudelo et al., 2007, p.125 (cit.); Ehrmann & Koçak, 2009, p.12 (cit.).

Mantis bodegetica, Kirby, 1904, p.301 (syn.) (spelling error).

= Mantis hogeditica, Kirby, 1910, p.568 (cit.) (spelling error); Giglio-Tos, 1914, p.35 (cit.).

Type. Unknown

Because it was not possible to find any specimen attributable to this species, we reproduce a translation of the original description and figure published by Stoll (1787) to aid the identification of any specimen that might emerge in the future:

“ With the antennae filiform, gray, the eyes white and projecting, the head straight and plain, the thorax with a high keel in the middle, the margins with small spines, the coloration of the prothorax, the abdomen and the legs is a brownish yellow; the claws [i.e., raptorial legs] are armed with sharp spines, and in the anterior surface of the femora there is a large brown spot. The forewings have a beautiful green color and are leathery; the hindwings are also leathery on the external margins, but in the rest they are yellow with stripes of a dirty green wavy and transparent. I took this insect from Suriname (Fig. 58).”

Remarks. Olivier (1792) described Stagmatoptera indicator based on the work of Stoll (1787). The whereabouts of the specimen studied by Stoll (1787) is unknown, and no additional ones have been found so far. Specimens identified as S. indicator in collections were females of other species initially preserved in ethanol, and later pinned. Because they were first preserved in ethanol, they lost most of their original color along with the spot on the stigma, the lack of which is the distinguishing characteristic of S. indicator . However, a more careful examination shows that the spot is present though nearly completely erased. It is possible that the specimen studied by Stoll and used to describe this species also presented this problem; however, this is mere speculation. This species is maintained because it is currently not possible to prove or deny its validity.