Published November 29, 2025 | Version v1

Roythespis israelensis gen. et sp. n. (Dictyoptera: Mantodea: Toxoderidae), a new praying mantis from Israel

  • 1. The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK. E-mail: m.stiewe@nhm.co.uk
  • 2. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel

Contributors

  • 1. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. E-mail: laibale@tauex.tau.ac.il

Description

A new genus and species of praying mantises, Roythespis israelensis gen et sp. n., is described from Israel. The new genus belongs in the subfamily Toxoderinae (Toxoderidae), and is most closely related to Belomantis Giglio-Tos, 1914 and Calamothespis Werner, 1907, from which it differs in having a weakly rounded and very short pseudophallus, and conspicuous but not overdeveloped juxta­ocular bulges. The new species features an elongated body and slender ha­bitus, short legs, a prognathous head and greatly extended and distally flattened cerci. The holotype of Toxomantis sinensis Giglio-Tos, 1914 is illustrated for the first time.

Files

Stiewe_etal_2025_IJE_RoythespisNewGenusMantodeaIsrael.pdf

Files (28.5 MB)

Additional details

Identifiers

LSID
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:08D44E51-836A-44DC-8CB5-21A9479A934D

Dates

Submitted
2025-10-23
Accepted
2025-11-11

Biodiversity

Basis of record
PreservedSpecimen
Institution code
SMNHTAU , TAUI
Catalog number
In.233828
Life stage
adult
Sex
male
Event date
1998-05-29
Verbatim event date
29.v.1998
Locality
Hazeva Field School, Shezaf Nature Reserve
Decimal latitude
30.76
Decimal longitude
35.24
Country
Israel
Country code
il
Scientific name
Roythespis israelensis
Scientific name authorship
Stiewe, Weinstein & Simon, 2025
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Dictyoptera
Family
Toxoderidae
Genus
Roythespis
Species
israelensis
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic status
accepted
Type status
Holotype