Research Article |
Corresponding author: Erick Hernández-Baltazar ( kcireherbal@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Matan Shelomi
© 2024 Manuel de Luna, Erick Hernández-Baltazar, Iker Cubillos Macías.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
de Luna M, Hernández-Baltazar E, Cubillos Macías I (2024) The family Angelidae (Insecta, Mantodea) in Mexico and Central America, new records and two new synonyms. Journal of Orthoptera Research 33(2): 229-232. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.33.114799
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The stick-like mantis Angela miranda Saussure, 1871 (Mantodea, Angelidae) is newly recorded for the state of Chiapas in Mexico as well as for the department of Izabal in Guatemala, and the female is newly described. A re-examination of material from the Colección Nacional de Insectos (
Angela championi , Angela miranda, Angela perpulchra, natural history collections, taxonomy
The family Angelidae Beier, 1935 includes medium- to large-sized mantises (60–141 mm) that have very elongated stick-like bodies (Figs
Angela miranda. A. Lateral aspect of male specimen deposited at the
Angela miranda, specimens deposited at the
Notably, Angela miranda Saussure, 1871 was described from Mexico without specifying a locality (
During a visit to the
Mantodea: Angelidae
Holotype: MEXICO • ♂; “Mexique”; pinned with one tegmina and hindwing extended, damaged (Fig.
COSTA RICA • 1 ♀; Heredia; pinned with one tegmina and hindwing extended (Fig.
According to the descriptions, keys, and illustrations of
The coloration and consistent patterning of the hindwings of the male of Angela miranda make it easily distinguishable from those of male congenerics (Figs
The hindwing of the female is very similar to that found in males (Fig.
The proposed junior synonyms for Angela miranda (see discussion below):
= Angela championi Saussure & Zehntner, 1894, syn. nov.
= Angela perpulchra Westwood, 1889, syn. nov.
A comparison was made among hindwings in the illustrations of the male of Angela perpulchra by
While both Angela miranda and Angela perpulchra were described from male specimens, another Central American species, Angela championi, was described based on a female specimen from Guatemala. The female specimen described and illustrated in this study (Fig.
A second species of this genus has been recorded for Central America, Angela guianensis. The first two-thirds of the hindwings of the males of this species are hyaline, while the last third is dark except for the very apex, which becomes smoky and subhyaline. The hindwings of the females are mostly dark and ornamented with yellow blotches that form irregular tiger-like stripes (
The authors thank the Society of Systematic Biologists for providing MdL with funding through the Mini-ARTS grant awarded to the project “Preliminary research on four cockroach families (Blaberidae, Blattellidae, Nyctiboridae, and Pseudophyllodromiidae) from Mexico.” We also want to thank Dr. Alejandro Zaldívar Riverón and M.Sc. Christina Mayorga Martínez for allowing the first and third authors to revise the specimens at the