Liturgusa nubeculosa Gerstaecker, 1889

Svenson, Gavin J., 2014, Revision of the Neotropical bark mantis genus Liturgusa Saussure, 1869 (Insecta, Mantodea, Liturgusini), ZooKeys 390, pp. 1-214 : 106-110

Liturgusa nubeculosa Gerstaecker, 1889

Liturgusa nubeculosa : Gerstaecker 1889: 54-56; Bertkau 1889: 87; Giglio-Tos 1927: 294; Beier 1935: 11; Terra 1995: 54; Jantsch 1999: 48; Lombardo and Agabiti 2001: 90, 97; Ehrmann 2002: 207; Otte and Spearman 2005: 133; Agudelo et al. 2007: 116, 142.

Liturgousa nubeculosa : Westwood 1889: 5, 51; Rehn 1935: 199; Rehn 1954: 177, pl. 1, fig. 2; Cerdá 1996: 76, Fig. 1.

Hagiomantis nubeculosa : Kirby 1904: 271.

Liturgusa peruviana : Giglio-Tos 1914: 77; Giglio-Tos 1927: 293; Beier 1935: 11; Rehn 1954: 177; Marshall 1975: 322; Terra 1995: 54; Ehrmann 2002: 207; Otte and Spearman 2005: 133. syn. n. ( Rehn 1935)

Type.

Holotype Female. Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Germany.

Type locality.

Brazil: Ega, Fonteboa (Amazonas) (Lat. -2.522585, Long. -66.097224).

Material examined.

Liturgusa nubeculosa Gerstaecker, 1889.

Taxonomic history.

The species was described early relative to others in the genus, but was only included in taxon lists without receiving revisionary attention. In 1904 Kirby moved the species to Hagiomantis , but this action was ignored by other taxonomists since Giglio-Tos included the species within Liturgusa along with all subsequent works.

In 1954, James Rehn synonymized Liturgusa peruviana Giglio-Tos, 1914, with its senior synonym, Liturgusa nubeculosa Gerstaecker, 1889, but his action appears to have been overlooked. Here again these two species are synonymized, but credit for first recognizing this synonymy goes to Rehn.

Natural history.

Liturgusa nubeculosa is one of the largest species of Neotropical bark mantis. Males and females are extremely difficult to catch during the day and have been primarily found on large diameter, smooth bark trees. Once they spot a threat, they run rapidly up the tree and out of reach, often circling to the back side, which is typical of the genus. Males were collected far more often than females on a recent trip to the Loreto province in northern Peru, but the opposite was true at a location in Bolivia (see material examined). It is not clear whether there are distinct sex ratios in certain locations or this sex bias was coincidence of habitat utilization.

Diagnosis.

Nearly identical to Liturgusa cameroni , the primary distinguishing characteristics being male genital features, distribution and the hindwing. It is one of the largest Liturgusa species with robust legs, highly contrasting mottled forewings and strong banding. A feature easily seen on most specimens that is capable of distinguishing the species from Liturgusa cameroni is that the discoidal region of the hindwing extends beyond the distal margin of the anal region, which gives the wing a slightly more elongate appearance compared to the hindwing of Liturgusa cameroni .

Description.

Male. (Fig. 27A) N=11: Body length 24.64-27.05 (25.62); forewing length 15.12-16.26 (15.73); hindwing length 11.94-12.67 (12.37); pronotum length 7.39-8.84 (8.06); prozone length 2.03-2.34 (2.19); pronotum width 2.42-2.68 (2.56); pronotum narrow width 1.74-2.06 (1.86); head width 4.79-5.47 (5.27); head vertex to clypeus 1.90-2.15 (2.07); frons width 1.77-2.02 (1.91); frons height 0.61-0.79 (0.70); prothoracic femur length 6.63-7.51 (7.14); mesothoracic femur length 8.93-10.67 (9.70); mesothoracic tibia length 7.03-8.34 (7.59); mesothoracic tarsus length 6.30-7.43 (6.64); metathoracic femur length 9.01-10.30 (9.69); metathoracic tibia length 9.60-10.89 (10.34); metathoracic tarsus length 9.06-10.84 (9.80); pronotal elongation measure 0.26-0.28 (0.27); pronotal shape measure 0.30-0.33 (0.32); head shape measure 0.38-0.41 (0.39); frons shape measure 0.34-0.40 (0.37); anteroventral femoral spine count 15-16 (16); anteroventral tibial spine count 10; posteroventral tibial spine count 7.

Head (Fig. 45C): Transverse, juxta-ocular protuberances small, the apex in the lateral third; the vertex between the parietal sutures is straight; vertex even or slightly below the dorsal margin of the eyes. Frontal suture with a medial carina forming a continuous arc. Ocelli small and protruding on small cuticular mounds. Lateral ocelli oriented outward. The frons transverse; lower region entirely black. Clypeus transverse; upper margin convex, lower margin concave. Antennae pale basally, fading to black within the proximal ten percent. A moderate black band that fades medially extending across the frontal suture from eye to eye; clypeus mostly pale with brown markings in the upper lateral corners; mandibles pale medially and brown laterally; the vertex and juxta-ocular protuberances speckled with dense black markings; the area adjacent to lateral ocelli black. Palpi are pale.

Pronotum (Fig. 49K): Elongate, but robust with a slightly defined supra-coxal bulge; dorsal surface with numerous small tubercles. Prozone elongate with slightly widening lateral margins before tapering anteriorly; the margins smooth. Metazone with concave lateral margins, a slight bulge in the posterior half; margins with small, blunt tubercles; posterior margin slightly emarginate medially; the anterior half of dorsal surface raised; the dorsal surface of the posterior half depressed. Mostly brown with black marks.

Prothoracic Legs: Femur elongate, but robust (thick) with a slightly concave dorsal margin; strongly defined pale to dark banding on posterior (external) surface; anterior (internal) surface with a black band running medially from the base to terminus; the ventral surface pale. Posterior surface of femur with numerous tubercles. A well developed femoral pit to accommodate terminal posteroventral tibial spine positioned medially to the proximal two posteroventral spines and in line with the distal most discoidal spine; pit is dark. Posterior prothoracic femoral genicular spine much smaller than posteroventral spines, originating distal to the beginning of the genicular lobe. Prothoracic tibial posteroventral spines with the first (proximal) smallest and the third through sixth of similar length, the second longer. Prothoracic coxae smooth; the anterior surface with a small, black band medially in the proximal half as well as a small black spot medially towards the distal terminus.

Meso- and Metathoracic Legs: Femora with strongly pronounced ventral (posterior) and dorsal (anterior) carina. Mesotarsi with first segment shorter than the remaining segments combined.

Wings: Forewings mottled with black, pale, brown and grey coloration that is highly contrasting, exhibiting large grey regions surrounded by black markings; the costal region widened with pale and dark irregular banding. Forewings colored asymmetrically, one being mottled as described the other is darkened significantly with a black or rust tone, the mottled pattern still visible. Hindwings smoky black, mostly translucent; the discoidal region with black, opaque pigmentation basally and in the anterior two thirds extending from the base to the distal terminus, continuing into the costal region; the terminus of the discoidal region projecting beyond the distal margin of anal region, giving the wing an elongate appearance.

Abdomen: Elongate, tubular with slight widening before the posterior narrowing; smooth and black coloration dorsally. Tergites without posterolateral projections. Supra-anal plate transverse, half as long as wide, tapering to a rounded terminus. Subgenital plate irregularly rounded and without styli.

Genital Complex (Fig. 52J.1-J.2): The main body of ventral left sclerite (L4A) with a short, triangular distal process (pda) positioned lateral to the central axis, the outer margin straight, heavily sclerotized and serrated from the terminus of the pda extending proximally one quarter the length of L4A. The apofisis falloid (afa) of the main body of dorsal left sclerite (L4B) large and broad, but short, forming a sharply pointed process with a convex medial margin (closest to the paa) leading to the terminus and a concave outer margin (opposite the paa), the entire structure resembling a broad sickle; the apical process (paa) broad basally, quickly narrowing to a heavily sclerotized, rounded terminus. The right dorsal phallomere (fda) of the first sclerite of right phallomere (R1) tapers to a broadly rounded, membranous terminus, the outer margin sclerotized; the ventral plate (pia) strongly sclerotized, broad proximally with strong curved grooves; the ventral process (pva) enlarged and c-shaped.

Redescription.

Female. (Figs 1C, 27B, 28A, 28C) N=23: Body length 32.17-52.03 (37.48); forewing length 19.32-26.96 (21.76); hindwing length 15.98-19.15 (17.44); pronotum length 9.77-13.12 (10.85); prozone length 2.76-3.69 (3.04); pronotum width 3.16-4.49 (3.62); pronotum narrow width 2.09-3.07 (2.54); head width 6.37-7.91 (6.86); head vertex to clypeus 2.58-3.38 (2.90); frons width 2.46-3.23 (2.70); frons height 0.89-1.23 (1.00); prothoracic femur length 8.54-12.24 (9.88); mesothoracic femur length 10.74-14.62 (12.30); mesothoracic tibia length 8.84-12.35 (9.94); mesothoracic tarsus length 7.71-10.74 (8.66); metathoracic femur length 10.88-14.87 (12.26); metathoracic tibia length 12.22-17.08 (13.55); metathoracic tarsus length 10.68-13.38 (12.34); pronotal elongation measure 0.27- 0.29 (0.28); pronotal shape measure 0.32-0.35 (0.33); head shape measure 0.40-0.44 (0.42); frons shape measure 0.34-0.42 (0.37); anteroventral femoral spine count 15-17 (16); anteroventral tibial spine count 10; posteroventral tibial spine count 7 (one female with 8 on left tibia).

Head (Fig. 45D): As broad as long, juxta-ocular protuberances very large, the apex in the middle third; the vertex between the parietal sutures is slightly concave; vertex well above the dorsal margin of the eyes. Frontal suture with a medial carina forming a continuous arc, more angular medially than in male. Ocelli small and protruding on a contiguous carina connecting all three ocelli; lateral ocelli oriented outward, the central ocelli almost vertical. The frons transverse, lower region below the carina black. Clypeus slightly transverse. Frontal suture without a defined black band as described in males; clypeus pale; mandibles pale; the vertex and juxta-ocular protuberances speckled with dense black markings; the area adjacent to lateral ocelli black. Palpi are pale.

Pronotum (Fig. 49L): Prozone elongate with near parallel lateral margins before tapering anteriorly; the margins with few small tubercles.

Prothoracic Legs: Prothoracic tibial posteroventral spines with the first (proximal) smallest and the third through sixth of similar length (the third slightly longer than the other three), the second much longer. Posterior prothoracic femoral genicular spine tiny compared to posteroventral spines, originating distal to the beginning of the genicular lobe. Prothoracic coxae smooth; the anterior surface with a small, black band medially in the proximal half, but no black mark in near the distal terminus.

Meso- and Metathoracic Legs: As described for males.

Wings: Forewings colored symmetrically. The terminus of the discoidal region of the hindwing projecting slightly beyond the distal margin of anal region, giving the wing a moderately elongate appearance.

Abdomen: Broad, widening from first segment until the beginning of the distal half (segment 4) when the lateral margins narrow gradually to the terminus, the middle being the broadest region. Tergites with or without small posterolateral tergal projections in the posterior half of the abdomen. Supra-anal plate slightly transverse, rounded.