On a
collection of praying mantids (Insecta: Mantodea) from Goa, India, with new
distribution records
M.C. Vyjayandi 1,
R.S. Rajeesh 2, P. Sajin John 2 & M.M. Dhanasree2
1,2 Department of Zoology, Providence
Women’s College, Kozhikode, Kerala 673009, India
Email: 1 vyji@rediffmail.com
Date of publication (online): 26 November 2010
Date of publication (print): 26 November 2010
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: Hemant V. Ghate
Manuscript details:
Ms
# o2188
Received
26 April 2009
Final
received 15 October 2010
Finally
accepted 23 October 2010
Citation: Vyjayandi, M.C., R.S. Rajeesh, P. Sajin John & M.M. Dhanasree
(2010). On a collection of praying mantids (Insecta:
Mantodea) from Goa, India, with new distribution records. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(12): 1325-1329.
Copyright: © M.C. Vyjayandi, R.S. Rajeesh, P. Sajin
John & M.M. Dhanasree 2010. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes,
reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and
the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the Department of Science and
Technology, Govt. of India for providing research grant. We sincerely thank the authorities of
Providence Women’s College, Kozhikode, Kerala, India, for providing laboratory
facilities.
Mantid fauna of southern India is
very rich. Out of the 162 species
of mantids under 68 genera reported from India, 45
species under 35 genera are known from southern India (Mukherjee et al.
1995). Only one species was
reported from Goa, which is one of the smallest states of India located in the
western coast. Serious attempts
for field surveys and collection of mantids have ever been carried in the
region. The present paper is based
on some mantid species from Goa collected during a field survey conducted
during the months of September-October 2008. A total of six species of mantids under six genera are
collected and reported for the first time from Goa, India.
The state of Goa is located within
15048’00”-14053’54”N & 74020’13”-73040’33”E
and bounded on the north by Sindhudurg District of Maharashtra State, on the
west by the Arabian Sea, on the south by Karwar District of Karnataka State and
on the east by Belgaum District of Karnataka State. The climate of Goa is warm and humid for most of the year and
the month of May is the hottest, with daytime temperatures touching 350C. The monsoon rains arrive around early
June and have a short cool season which lasts between
mid-December and February.
Materials and Methods: The field survey to collect
mantid specimens was carried out in the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Bondla
Wildlife Sanctuary (WS), Bhagavan Mahaveer WS and Cotigao WS. Goa, during the
months of September and October 2008. The specimens were hand picked and collected by light
traping. Detailed studies of the
specimens were carried out with a Leica EZ4D Stereo Zoom Microscope and digital
images were prepared using Olympus SP-350 8MP camera. The specimens were identified following Giglio-Tos (1927), Mukherjee
et al. (1995), Henry (1932) and Ehrmann (2002). All the specimens studied are kept in the Zoology Department
of Providence Women’s College, Kozhikode, Kerala,
India. Measurements are given in
millimeter.
Results: The systematic list of the mantid
species collected from Goa is as follows.
Order: Mantodea
Family: Hymenopodidae
Sub family: Acromantinae
1. Acromantis insularis Giglio-Tos
(Images 1, 2, 3 &
4)
Acromantis insularis Giglio-Tos, 1927. Das Tierreich.50: 526.
Specimens Examined: 2 females &
1 male, 01.x.2008, Cotigao WS, Goa, India, coll. Vyjayandi & party.
Diagnostic characters: Generally
greenish-brown, head triangular, 2x wider than high, eyes rounded bulging,
metazona 3x longer than prozona, edge of the pronotum with fine tubercles; disc
smooth; fore coxa as long as metazona, 4-5 spines present in the anterior
margin. Femur: dorsal middle region with a hump, four external spines, four
discoidal spines and 13 internal spines, longer internal spines black at tip
and base, claw groove placed at proximal end, wings longer than abdomen; fore
wings less densely reticulated, costal area truncated at tip.
Measurements: Male: TL - 26mm, PN -
9mm, FW - 21mm; Female: TL - 32mm, PN - 12mm, FW -
26mm.
Distribution: India (Goa (current
study), Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka), Indonesia (Java, Sumatra).
Family: Mantidae
Sub family: Amelinae
2. Amantis saussurei (Bolivar)
(Images 5, 6 & 7)
Amantis saussurei: Giglio-Tos, 1927. Das Tierreich. 50: 171.
Gonypeta saussurei: Kirby, 1904. Cat. Orth. Brit.
Mus., 1: 224
Specimens examined: 2 females,
Bagavan Mahaveer WS, Mollem, Goa, India, 28.ix.2008, coll. Vyjayandi &
party.
Diagnostic characters: Dark brown;
head eyes round, lateral lobes prominent; pronotum elliptical with a
dorsomedian dark brown band, two tubercles at base of metazona dorso-medially,
fore leg entirely setaceous, femur triangular, anterior margin almost straight
with 11 internal, four external, four discoidal spines; tibia with 11 internal
and nine external spines; both wings highly reduced.
Measurements: female: TL - 17mm, PN
- 4mm.
Distribution: India (Goa (current
study), Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu).
Remarks: Mostly observed and
collected during night.
3. Elmantis trincomaliae (Saussure)
(Images 8, 9, 10 & 11)
Elmantis trincomaliae: Beier, 1956. Verh. Naturf. Ges.Basel, 67(1): 35.
Elmantis trincomaliae: Giglio-Tos, 1927. Das Tierreich, 50: 178.
Elmantis trincomaliae: Giglio-Tos, 1915. Bull.
Soc.Entomol. Ital., 46: 161.
Specimens examined: 3 males & 2
females, 26.ix.2008, Bondla WS, Goa, India, coll. Vyjayandi & party; 2 males &
2 females, 28.ix.2008, 29.ix.2008, Bagavan Mahaveer WS, Mollem, Goa, India,
coll. Vyjayandi & party; 1 female, 01.x.2008, Cotigao WS, Goa, India, coll.
Vyjayandi & party.
Diagnostic characters: Generally
brown with dark brown dots and patches, head 1.6x wider than high; vertex
smooth, lateral lobes distinct; eyes rounded,pronotummedium sized, slightly longer than fore coxa, fore coxa with 8-9 small spines,
carinated; trochanter small; fore femur triangular, fore femora with four
external spines (first two closely placed), four discoidal spines (first
discoidal spine shorter than second), 12 external spines, claw groove placed in
the proximal half. Wings hyaline, longer
than abdomen. Females are brachypterous.
Measurements: Male - TL- 25mm, PN -
5mm, FW - 22mm, Female - TL - 27mm, PN - 7mm, FW - 6mm.
Distribution: India (Goa (current
study), Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka
(Trincomalee).
Remarks: Female specimens are little darker than males and short-winged.
Family: Liturgusidae
Sub family: Liturgusinae
4. Humbertiella similis Giglio-Tos
(Fig: 12, 13, 14 & 15)
Humbertiella similis: Giglio-Tos, 1927. Das Tierreich, 50: 65.
Humbertiella similis: Giglio-Tos, 1917. Bull.
Soc.Entomol. Itl., 48: 83.
Diagnostic characters: Body
generally bark brown dorsally, pale brown ventrally, vertex smooth, four
grooved, lateral lobe slightly elevated from level of vertex forms obtuse
tubercle, eyes large, pronotum broad, a little longer than fore coxa, dentate
laterally, metazona about 2x longer than prozona, disc with 6-8 indistinct
tubercles, fore coxa short, a little swollen ventrally, lower margin
denticulate, internal apical lobe divergent; femur stout swollen proximally,
with 14 (7 short, 7 large) internal, four external, four discoidal spines,
margin between external spines dentate; claw groove proximally placed; tibia
slender with 10 internal, nine external spines, wings hyaline, longer than
abdomen.
Measurements: Male: TL - 30mm, PN -
5.5mm, FW - 27mm; Female: TL - 34mm, PN - 6.5mm, FW - 22mm,
Specimens examined: 1 male and 1
female, 30.ix.2008, ICAR, Old Goa, India, coll. Vyjayandi & party.
Distribution: India (Goa (current
study), Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar
Pradesh), Nepal, Sri Lanka.
Remarks: The body
size of both male and female almost same. Both wings of
females are little shorter than abdomen, fore wing opaque with irregular costal
veinlets; hind wing sub opaque.
Family: Mantidae
Sub family: Mantinae
5. Hierodula ventralis Giglio Tos
(Fig: 16, 17, 18 & 19)
Hierodula ventralis Giglio Tos, 1912. Bull. Soc.
Entomol.Ital.,43: 82.
Hierodula ventralis Giglio Tos, 1927. Das Tierreich, 50: 443.
Hierodula ventralis Werner, 1935. Proc. Zool.
Soc.Lodon, 1935: 495-498.
Diagnostic characters: Generally
light green, head wider than high, vertex smooth, lateral lobes distinct; eyes
globular, large, bulging; pronotum long; metazona 4.2x longer than prozona;
fore coxa with six spinules; fore femur with four external spines, four
discoidal spines and 15 internal spines, last two smaller spines closely
placed, wings longer than the abdomen; fore wing semi hyaline; hind wing
transparent.
Measurements: Male: TL - 55mm, PN -
19mm, FW - 44mm.
Specimens examined: 1 male,
26.ix.2008, Bondla WS, Goa, India, 30m, coll. Vyjayandi & party.
Distribution: Goa (current study),
Chandigarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.
Family: Toxoderidae
Sub family: Toxoderinae
6. Cheddikulama straminea Henry
(Fig: 20, 21 & 22)
Cheddikulama straminea Henry, 1932. Spolia Zeylanica,
17(1):14-18, pl.II,f.2; pl.V,f.2
Diagnostic characters: Generally
straw colored, appearing as dry grass; head large, somewhat flattened, broader
than high, eye mammiform, pronotum long, slender with dorsomedian carina;
lateral margin dentate; metazona a little longer than fore coxa, upper and
lower margin of coxa dentate, internal apical lobes divergent, coxa finely
granulated with 13 internal (6 short, 7 large), four discoidal, first two closely
placed, four external spines, margin between external spines serrated; claw
groove proximally placed, tibia with 16 internal, 11 external spines; both wing
shorter than abdomen; fore wing opaque at costal area, anal, discoidal area
semi transparent; hind wing hyaline with characteristic colorations.
Specimens examined: Male,
26.ix.2008, Bondla WS, Goa, India, 30m, coll. Vyjayandi & party.
Distribution: India: (Goa (current
study), Kerala, Uttar Pradesh), Sri Lanka (Mannar, Cheddikulum).
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