Short Communication |
Corresponding author: Antonio Fasano ( mantisdroxita@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Matan Shelomi
© 2023 Antonio Fasano, Alessio De Martino.
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:
Fasano A, De Martino A (2023) Alien mantids in a tropical paradise: First record of the giant mantis Sphodromantis viridis (Insecta, Mantodea) for the Canary Islands (Spain). Journal of Orthoptera Research 32(2): 143-147. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.32.96183
|
The presence of adults, nymphs, and oothecae of the African giant mantis Sphodromantis viridis Forsskål is for the first time recorded on the island of Tenerife, the largest and most populated of the Canary archipelago, an autonomous Spanish community in the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery took place in a popular water park rich in non-native plants in the municipality of Costa Adeje. It is possible that anthropogenic movements, particularly the massive movement of tourists and goods that continually cross this small archipelago, aided the dispersal to the area of this mantis, which for some years has also been expanding in many areas of the Mediterranean basin. A hypothesis on the ecological impact and the possible invasiveness of this extremely adaptable species is discussed and supported by the large number of sightings of oothecae and specimens that are, fortunately, still confined within the west coast of the island.
Alien species, expansion, giant mantis, human-mediated introduction, Tenerife
Sphodromantis Stål, 1871 is a genus of large sized mantids characterized by a robust body, well-developed flight organs in both sexes, thick head with round eyes and a small tubercle at the base of the antennae, and pronotum longer than fore coxae with well-marked supracoxal dilatation (
Sphodromantis viridis Forsskål, 1775 (often known by the common name of giant African mantis) is the species of the genus with the northernmost distribution. It is common from the Middle East to the sub-Saharan region of some Central African countries (
The production of this work started with the finding of Sphodromantis viridis in the south of Tenerife by one of the authors, who came to the Canary Islands for an expedition. All sightings occurred within the boundaries of the “Aqualand Costa Adeje” water park. One adult specimen and eight oothecae were collected (Fig.
Material examined.—SPAIN • 1 ♀, 1 sub-adult ♂, 5 unsexed nymphs and 13 oothecae; Canary Islands, Tenerife Island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife province, Adeje municipality; Costa Adeje seaside community; 28°04'75"N, 16°43'68"W; 286 m a.s.l.; 24 Aug. 2022; Alessio De Martino leg.; found among the plants of “Aqualand Costa Adeje” water park, collected by hand and deposited in Antonio Fasano’s collection.
The only adult specimen collected, an 8.2-cm female, was quickly identified based on the following characters: large head with rounded eyes and frontal sclerite barely longer than high; pronotum with metazone/prozone ratio > 2; supracoxal dilation well marked; strong fore legs, three coxal spines with a yellowish plate at the base, black femoral spines only at the tip; flight organs well developed, tegminae with clearly visible whitish stigma; and hind wings hyaline (Fig.
Non-native plants observed in the park with their native range and the presence/absence of oothecae and specimens of Sphodromantis viridis.
Plant | Origin | Presence of S. viridis |
---|---|---|
Agave attenuata | Mexico | No |
Agave tequilana | Mexico | No |
Aloe arborescens | Southern Africa | No |
Aloidendron dichotomum | Namibia, South Africa | No |
Codiaeum variegatum | Indonesia, Malaysia, Oceania | Oothecae |
Crassula ovata | Southern Africa | No |
Eleagnus × submacrophylla | Hybrid of Asian species | Oothecae |
Eucalyptus sp. | Oceania, Philippines | No |
Euonymus sp. | Asia, Europe | No |
Excoecaria cochinchinensis | China, Southeast Asia, Taiwan | Oothecae, specimens |
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis | Vanuatu | Oothecae |
Iresine diffusa f. herbstii | Peru | Oothecae |
Lantana camara | Central and tropical America | No |
Musa sp. | Tropical Asia, Oceania | Oothecae |
Metrosideros excelsa | New Zealand | No |
Nerium oleander | Africa, Asia, Europe | Oothecae, specimens |
Polygala sp. | Cosmopolitan | No |
Pandanus utilis | Mascarene islands | Oothecae |
Schinus molle | South America | No |
Tillandsia xerographica | Central America | No |
Washingtonia sp. | Mexico, United States | Specimens |
Main features used for the identification of S. viridis. A. Pronotum with well-marked supracoxal dilatation. B. Head with rounded eyes and a tubercle near the base of antennae. C. Robust fore legs with coxal spines with yellowish plates. D. Bright white stigma on the tegminae. Photos by Alessio De Martino.
In recent years, there has been a rapid change in the spread of praying mantids around the world, with many native species expanding north due to higher global temperatures and many alien species introduced by humans in numerous territories, following the main trade routes such as the one that starts from Asia to get to Europe (
The authors would like to thank Lohitashwa Gakiripati (University of California Davis, USA) for his valuable advice and for the linguistic review of the article. Special thanks also go to Roberto Battiston (Museo di Archeologia e Scienze Naturali “G. Zannato”, Vicenza, Italia) for helping the authors to better understand the ecology and biogeography of the treated mantids. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the Orthopterists’ Society for their support in the publication of this manuscript.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.