Didymocorypha wayanadensis Kamila & Sureshan sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 33A6A2E3-F42F-4B1E-8954-D6F135C2B557

(Figs. 1‒17, 25-28, 31, 32)

Diagnosis. This species can be recognized by the following characters; body densely spotted; head as long as pronotum (female); abdominal cerci short, stout, 8-segmented.

Description. Female body (Figs. 1, 2) straw-coloured, slender, grass-like, densely black-spotted.

Head (Figs. 3, 4) elongated, lance-shaped. Juxta-ocular lobes prolonged, separated by median suture along entire length; apex split and twisted, right juxta-ocular lobe longer and darker than left one. Vertex triangular, vertically with pale median groove, lower end with two black ocellus-like structures on both sides of groove. Eyes oblong, laterally placed. Ocelli minute. Lower frons trapezoidal, vertically with two carinae and one groove in middle. Clypeus with median carina and small notch on both sides. Antennae highly ciliated.

Pronotum long, slender, as long as head, with nearly parallel lateral margins (Fig. 1). Supra-coxal dilation indistinct. Metazona about 1.5 times as long as prozona. Prosternum with median black ridge and two lateral grooves. Mesothorax and metathorax both dorsally and ventrally with two black spots on either side of each segment. Wingless. Metathoracic ear very narrow.

Prothoracic legs (Figs. 5, 6) with coxa shorter than metazona. Upper, lower and lateral edges with spinules and highly ciliated towards base. Upper half of coxa dorsally smoky. Coxal lobes convergent, superior lobe with one black patch anteriorly. Trochanter dorsally with one black spot. Disc of femora granulated, with median ridge. Femora with sharp genicular spine; four posteroventral spines, bases dorsally with semi-circular black lines and spines decreasing in length towards apex except fourth one; 4 discoidal spines and 19 anteroventral spines (8 long and 11 short), both long and short spines gradually shortened towards apex, all spines brown at apex only. Femora ventrally with three black lines: one along the length, one broad one from 1st to 3rd discoidal spine and another along femoral brush. Claw groove situated proximal to middle. Tibia with five posteroventral spines, all black at apex only, increasing in length towards apex except for 2 nd spine, and 11 anteroventral spines, all black except basally, decumbent and gradually increasing in length toward apex. Tibia and tarsal segments dorsally and ventrally with black line along entire length. Basitarsus longer than other tarsomeres taken together. Tibial claw black at apex only. Spination formula of prothoracic legs: F = 4DS/ 19AvS/ 4PvS; T = 11AvS/ 5PvS.

Meso and metathoracic legs (Fig. 1) simple, femora with genicular spine. Basitarsus shorter than other tarsomeres taken together.

Abdomen (Figs. 1, 7) with cerci short, rectangular, ciliated, 8-segmented, laterally compressed, cercomeres increasing in width towards distal end.

Ootheca (Fig. 8) small, long and thin, yellow to brown, length 1.7 cm, containing 10 eggs in two rows.

Male (Figs. 9‒17) similar to female but body slightly smaller and with much less black spotted than females. Juxta-ocular lobes equal in length, apex not split. Ocelli distinct, round, lateral ocelli larger than medial one. Wings hyaline.

Male genitalia (Figs. 31, 32) relatively large. Left phallomere narrow and long with long, finger-like curved apical process (paa), with brush-like cluster of hairs at its base. Left side (dorsal view) of anterior process of left phallomere (afa) with a separate thick sclerotized sheath with many closely arranged small bristles facing downward. Ventral phallomere slightly elongated; posterior edge curved, distal edge with minute spines and with a small, straight, triangular, sharp distal process (sdp). Right phallomere with somewhat cylindrical pva distally with multiple strongly sclerotized minute spines; pia curved, highly sclerotized thin line with two weak creases in middle. Main posterior lobe (fda) of right phallomere posteriorly with small, thin bristles and minute spines ventrally.

Measurements are listed in Table 1.

Material examined. Holotype female, India, Kerala, Wayanad district, Muthanga range forest, Edavambam, 11°42'21.4128''N, 76°20'12.0012''E, elev. 848 m, 20.ii.2021, K. A. Subramanian & Party, ZSI / WGRC /IR/INV 18671[ZSIK]. Paratype male, India, Kerala, Idukki district, Mannavanshola, 10°11’25”N, 77°10’55”E, elev. 1950 m, 7.ix.2013, P. M. Sureshan, ZSI / WGRC /IR/INV 18672 [ZSIK]. Paratype female, INDIA, Punjab, Patiala, University Campus 30°21'N, 76°27'E, 24-26.vi.1999, Yu. M. Marusik leg. ZMMU.

Distribution. India: Kerala, Punjab.

Etymology. The specific name wayanadensis is derived from the place-name Wayanad, where the holotype specimen was collected.

Didymocorypha lanceolata (Fabricius, 1798)

(Figs. 18‒24, 29, 30)

Mantis lanceolata: Fabricius, 1798: 191 (syn. by Bolivar, 1897: 303).

Schizocephalus (Didymocorypha) ensifera: Wood-Mason, 1877: 221-222.

Pyrgocotis gracilipes: Stål, 1877: 17; Westwood, 1889: 3 (syn. by Wood-Mason, 1889: 34).

Didymocorypha ensifera: Wood-Mason, 1882: 24; Wood-Mason, 1889: 34 (syn. by Bolivar, 1897: 303).

Pyrgomantis lanceolata: Westwood 1889: 3.

Didymocorypha lanceolata: Bolivar, 1897: 303; Kirby, 1904: 218; Giglio-Tos, 1921: 32; Giglio-Tos, 1927: 116; Henry, 1932: 9; Werner, 1933: 898; Mukherjee et al. 1995: 235; Ehrmann, 2002: 123; Otte & Spearman, 2005: 328; Vyjayandi, 2007: 153; Chandra & Sharma, 2009: 61; Sureshan & Sambath, 2009: 18; Ghate et al. 2012: 442; Sharma & Chandra 2013: 127; Mukherjee et al. 2014: 15‒16; Ehrmann & Borer 2015: 231; Patel et al. 2016: 20259; Mukherjee et al. 2017: 9833; Markey 2018: 108; Schwarz et al. 2018: 206‒207, 227; Unnahachote et al. 2019: 24‒25; Wu & Liu 2020: 53‒54, 56; Kamila & Sureshan, 2022: 17; Kamila & Sureshan, 2023: 67.

Type species and locality. Mantis lanceolata (Fabricius, 1798), “ India orientali.”

Material examined. male, India, Karnataka, Shimoga, 13°58'16"N, 75°34'43"E, elev. 605 m, 04.i.2020, Ranjith M, ZSI / WGRC / IR/INV. 13918 [ZSIK]. female, INDIA, Karnataka, Bangalore, Bangalore university campus, 12°56'45"N, 77°30'38"E, 822 m, 04. Xii. 2008, Vyjayandi & party, ZSI / WGRC /IR/INV. 2539 [ZSIK].

Description. Male (Fig. 18b) with head (Figs. 19, 20) elongated, lance-like. Vertex with prolonged juxta-ocular lobes that are not fused but opposed to each other with a median suture along entire length. Vertex triangular. Eyes oblong, laterally placed. Ocelli prominent. Lower frons trapezoid, vertically with two carinae and groove in middle. Antennae ciliated.

Thorax with pronotum short but longer than head. Metazona twice the length of prozona. Supra-coxal dilation indistinct. Lateral sides little serrated and almost parallel. Prosternum with black median line and two lateral grooves. Wings hyaline, shorter than abdomen.

Prothoracic legs (Figs. 21, 22) with coxa shorter than metazona, with serrated margins, dorsally without patches, ventrally with few dark spots, proximally with black line in lower margin and distally with black spot on upper margin. Trochanter dorsally with one spot. Femora with 4 posteroventral spines; 4 discoidal spines, first one small and third one longest; 17‒18 anteroventral spines (8 long, 10 short). All spines black at apex only. Claw groove proximal to middle with one small black spot. Femoral brush with long, thin black line up to apex of femur. Tibia with five posteroventral spines, first one minute and slightly separated from second; 9‒10 anteroventral spines, gradually increasing in length toward apex. Tibia dorsally with one small black spot on base. Basitarsus longer than other tarsomeres taken together. Spination formula of prothoracic legs: F= 4DS/ 17-18AvS/ 4PvS; T= 9-10AvS/ 5 PvS.

Meso and metathoracic legs (Fig. 18) simple, femora with genicular spines. Tibiae and tarsi lightly spotted with black spots. Basitarsus shorter than other tarsomeres taken together.

Abdomen (Fig. 23) without spots or patches. Cerci long, 12-segmented and compressed laterally.

Male genitalia (Figs. 29, 30) small. Left phallomere slightly broadened and long with finger-like apical process (paa).Anterior process of left phallomere (afa) long, highly sclerotized, with 16‒17 thick bristles. Ventral phallomere with straight, robust, sharp distal process (sdp). Basal lobe (bl) of ventral phallomere long, sclerotized and densely covered with minute spines. Right phallomere with triangular main posterior lobe (fda), lobe-like pva and long, finger-like pia; latter two structures strongly sclerotized.

Female (Fig. 18a) similar to male but larger, apterous.

Ootheca (Fig. 24) small, long and thin, yellow to brownish, 1‒1.4 cm long, containing 10 eggs in two rows; emergence area in zig-zag shape.

Measurements are listed in Table 1.

Distribution. India: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala (new record), Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal (Wood-Mason, 1882; Wood-Mason, 1889; Werner, 1933; Mukherjee et al. 1995, 2014, 2015; Wu & Liu, 2020); Nepal: Bagmati Province, Province No.1 (Ehrmann & Borer 2015); Sri Lanka: Central province, Southern province, Uva province (Ehrmann 2002; Henry 1932); Thailand: Lopburi province, Nakhon Ratchasima province (Unnahachote et al. 2019).