Tismomorpha vitripennis (Bolivar, 1908)

Moulin, Nicolas, Decaens, Thibaud & Annoyer, Philippe, 2017, Diversity of mantids (Dictyoptera: Mantodea) of Sangha-Mbaere Region, Central African Republic, with some ecological data and DNA barcoding, Journal of Orthoptera Research 26 (2), pp. 117-141 : 136-138

Tismomorpha vitripennis (Bolivar, 1908)

Bolivar 1908a. Mems R. Soc. Esp. Hist. nat. 1: 471.

Type locality. -

Eosung, Bakossi Mountains Wildlife Reserve (Cameroon).

Material examined. -

CAR, Komassa, UV trap 05-07.VIII.1966 (2♂) (Collector M. Boulard) ( MNHN); Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, Lidjombo, in a little bay, UV trap 05-07.II.2005 (2♂) (Collector PA) (IDM); Bayanga, base camp, UV trap 16.X.2008 (2♂) (Collector PA) (IDM); Bayanga, base camp, tent, night capture 18-24.X.2008 (3♂) (Collector PA) (IDM); Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Lake 1, base camp, UV trap 26.XI.2010 (2♂) (Collector NM and PA) (IDM and RCNM); Lake 1, base camp, laboratory tent, night capture 28-30.XI.2010 (2♂) (Collector NM and PA) (IDM and RCNM); Lake 1, base camp, UV trap 02.XII.2010 (♂) (Collector NM and PA) (IDM); Lake 1, base camp, Remote Canopy Trap, UV trap 28.I.2012 (♂) (Collector NM and PA) (RCNM); Lake 1, base camp, UV trap 12.II.2012 (2♂) (Collector NM and PA) (RCNM); Lake 1, base camp, laboratory tent, barcoding BOLD NMMAN11-417 (1♂), night capture 13-19.II.2012 (5♂) (Collector NM and PA) (RCNM); Lake 1, base camp, barcoding BOLD NMMAN11-431 (1♂), UV trap 26.II.2012 (♂) (Collector NM and PA) (RCNM).

Distribution. -

Cameroon, CAR, Gabon.

Sampling method efficiency. -

Light trapping was the most efficient sampling method, with almost 1000 specimens captured, while day collecting only resulted in the collection of 250 specimens (Fig. 5 ). As for orthopterans, we observed that many mantises were attracted more efficiently by diffuse light (camp lamp in tents, classic neon, low energy consumption lamps) than by the 250W UV light traditionally used in light traps for moths and beetles. As expected, the proportion of females and nymphs was higher during the day than with light traps, and interestingly the number of species collected with both methods was not significantly different (Fig. 6 ). Sampling completeness, represented by the % of estimated richness that has been observed in the samples, was higher for light trapping (ca. 92%) than for day collecting (ca. 74%), suggesting that additional sampling effort with this last method would be necessary to reach an accurate estimation of the mantid community diversity. Figure 7 shows the number of species caught specifically for each method.

DNA barcoding versus traditional taxonomy. -A total of 94 sequences of more than 200°bp were obtained from 119 specimens analysed. Except in a few cases, the delimitation of taxonomic units on the basis of genetic information contained in the barcodes was congruent with the species limits acknowledged by traditional taxonomy (Fig. 8 ).

Diversity patterns of praying mantids. -

The rarefaction curve obtained for the whole data set (Fig. 9 ) indicates that the sampling effort was sufficient to provide a representative picture of Mantodea diversity at a regional scale. As exemplified by this figure, doubling the number of collected specimens would only result in the addition to the checklist of a small number of new species. Figure 10 shows diversity patterns in the three major geographical units of the study region, i.e. Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve and the rest of Sangha-Mbaere Region.

The higher observed and estimated species richness was found in the Dzanga-Ndoki NP, where the number of species was close to the number observed at the regional scale, meaning that most of the regional species pool was present in this area (Fig. 10 ).

Vegetation structure.-

Figures 11 to 13 present the number of individuals and the diversity of mantids collected along a height gradient from the herbaceous layer to the top canopy. Most of the mantids captured were males because the main method of surveying was through the use of light traps. However, both in top canopy and in the tree stratum, a higher proportion of females were collected by active search and light trap, maybe because UV light was placed nearer to the microhabitats where females resided. The number of specimens found in the soil and herbaceous strata was lower than in other strata because the study area is largely situated in a forest context (Fig. 11 ). Both observed and estimated species richness were the highest between the shrub layer and the top canopy). However, a significant number of species was found in the herbaceous surroundings and edges of the swamps and lakes (Fig. 12 ). Each stratum of the vegetation harbors species in a specific way but the species also overlap somewhat in different vegetation types (Fig. 13 ).

Figures

Figure 5. Number of mantid specimens collected with the two main sampling methods: day capture (Day) and trapping with UV lights at night (UV); black chart = females; grey chart = males; white chart = nymphs.

Figure 6. Specific richness of Mantodea collected with two main sampling methods; day capture (Day) and trapping with UV light at night (UV); grey chart = observed richness; dashed chart = estimated richness (ACE index) and associated standard deviation.

Figure 7. Number of mantid species collected with the two main sampling methods: day capture (Day) and light trapping (UV).

Figure 8. Neighbor-joining tree of DNA barcodes (COI) obtained from BOLD 4.0. beta using the Kimura 2 parameter for distance model. Filters: sequence length> 200 bp.

Figure 9. Rarefaction curve of Mantodea from Sangha-Mbaere Region (black curve) with an extrapolation in a hypothetical situation where sampling effort would be doubled (dashed curve); grey area = confidence interval.

Figure 10. Species richness in the three zones studied: Ndoki = Dzanga-Ndoki National Park zone; Sangha = Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve zone; Mbaere = Rest of the Sangha-Mbaere Region; grey chart = observed number of species; dashed chart = estimated richness (ACE index) and associated standard deviation.

Figure 11. Number of collected specimens in the different vegetation strata; black = females; grey = males; white = nymphs.

Figure 12. Specific richness in the different vegetation strata; grey = observed richness; dashed chart = estimated richness (ACE index) and associated standard deviation.

Figure 13. Distribution of the species in the different vegetation strata.