Revision of Platycalymma Westwood, 1889, and the synonymy of Ichromantis Paulian, 1957 (Mantodea, Iridopterygidae, Tropidomantinae)
Author
Roy, Roger
Author
Svenson, Gavin J.
text
Zootaxa
2011
3014
1
25
journal article
46418
10.5281/zenodo.204672
77e99071-e363-440e-be46-cfd447ac5c5c
1175-5326
204672
Platycalymma
Westwood, 1889
Platycalymma
WESTWOOD
,
1889
:
39
;
BRUNNER
DE
WATTENWYL, 1893: 61; SAUSSURE & ZEHNTNER, 1895: 164; KIRBY, 1904: 228; GIGLIO-TOS, 1927: 138; BEIER, 1935: 58; BEIER, 1964: 947; BEIER, 1968: 10
;
EHRMANN, 2002: 283; OTTE & SPEAR-
MAN
, 2005
:
124
.
Platycalymna
[sic]: PAULIAN
,
1957
:
36
;
ROY
,
1987
: 121.
=
Ichromantis
PAULIAN
,
1957
:
40
;
ROY
,
1987
: 121;
EHRMANN, 2002: 191; OTTE & SPEARMAN, 2005: 122;
nov. syn
.
Type
species:
Platycalymma latipennis
WESTWOOD, 1889
, by monotypy
After examination of numerous
Malagasy
Tropidomantinae
specimens, it became clear that there were no generic level distinctions between
Platycalymma latipennis
WESTWOOD, 1889
and the two
Ichromantis
species described by Paulian (1957),
I. befasica
and
I. dichroica
. Upon turning to the original descriptions and examining the
types
for all three species, we found Westwood’s (1889) description to accurately portray all three species as well as the additional congeneric
Tropidomantinae
material in the collection. In fact Westwood’s description captured many features unique to the genus within the
Tropidomantinae
:
“
PLATYCALYMMA, Westw.
, nov. gen. Corpus latum, capite plano inermi; prothorace elongato-ovali, pone medium lateribus sensim sed parum angustioribus, supra carinato; abdomine ovato-subdepresso, segmentorum angulis posticis acute productis; cercis analibus modice elongatis, apicibus acutis; tegminibus ovalibus; alis area costali lata, venis discoidali et axillari bifurcatis; pedibus anticis satis robustis; femoribus crassis, externe subtuberculatis spinis modice elongatis; pedibus 4 posticis gracilibus inermibus.”
In translation:
“
PLATYCALYMMA, Westw.
, nov. gen. Body wide, vertex of head unarmed; prothorax elongate-oval, the margins posterior from the middle only slightly narrower, carina dorsally; oval sub-depressed abdomen, the posterior corners of the segments sharply projected; cerci moderately elongated, tips pointed; tegmina oval; the cοstal regiοn wings brοađ, the điscοiđal anđ axillary veins bifurcate﹔ the anteriοr legs sufficiently rοbust﹔ brοađ femοra, externally with minor tubercles and moderately elongated spines, the posterior 4 legs slender, unarmed.”
Paulian’s (1957) description of
Ichromantis
, although much longer, does not present any characters that are contradictory to Westwood’s description. In addition, Paulian included a number of additional features, all of which apply to
P.
latipennis
and the two
Ichromantis
species:
“Genre
Ichromantis
nov. Corps moyen, à élytres fusiformes élargis, hyalins chez le 3, opaques chez la Ƥ. Tête beaucoup plus large que le pronotum, à yeux très gros, arrondis; écusson frontal très transverse, en bande étroite, échancrée au milieu par l’ocelle antérieur; vertex concave, un lobe obtus en dedans de chaque oeil. Pronotum moyennement long, sa plus grande largeur un peu après le milieu, rétréci vers l’avant en ogive régulière, vers l’arrière plus fortement et en courbe plus ou moins concave en dehors, bords lisses; carène dorsale lisse et entière, occupant toute la métazone et se terminant, en avant de celle-ci, par une petite dent, limitée à la moitié postérieure de la prozone.
Elytres assez larges, surtout chez la Ƥ, bien plus longs que l’abdomen; aire costale élargie vers la base, à nervures transverses parfois bifurquées et plus ou moins confluentes vers l’extérieur, dessinant des aréoles irrégulières, différentes selon l’espèce; une série de nervures transverses entre sous-costale et radiale; les deux rangées d’alvéoles entre les nervures longitudinales sont sensiblement égales, et à peu près subcarrées (3) ou alternativement larges et étroites. Fémurs antérieurs longs et grêles avec cinq fortes épines externes écartées, séparées par de fines épines; trois discoïdales dont la médiane est la plus large, onze épines internes; tibias antérieurs avec onze épines relativement longues et aiguës; tarses antérieurs très longs et grêles. Fémurs et tibias des paires postérieures longs, grêles, inermes, les tibias non carénés. Cerques rubannés, longs et grêles. Plaque sous-génitale moyenne.
Ce nouveau genre, proche de
Chiromantis
d’Afrique
orientale, en diffère par le moindre élargissement de l’aire costale dont les nervures sont plus simples; le plus grand nombre d’épines tibiales.
In translation:
“Genus
Ichromantis
nov. Medium size body, with extended, fusiform elytra, hyaline in the 3, opaque in the Ƥ. Head much wider than pronotum, with very large eyes, rounded; frontal shield very transverse, narrow band, indented in the middle be the anterior ocellus, vertex concave, obtuse lobe medial to each eye. Pronotum moderately long, its greatest width slightly posterior to the middle, narrowed toward the front, regular sulcus stronger and more or less concave and curving outwards, smooth edges; well-developed dorsal carina, occupying all of the metazone and terminated slightly anterior by a small tooth, limited to the posterior half of the prozone.
Elytra rather broad, especially in the Ƥ, much longer than the abdomen; costal area enlarged toward the base, sometimes with bifurcated transverse veins more or less confluent to the outside, forming irregular cells differentiated in various species; a series of transverse veins between the subcostal and radial veins; the two rows of cells between the longitudinal veins are substantially equal, and nearly squared (3) or alternatively wide and narrow. Anterior femora long and slender, with five strong spines externally, separated by thin spines; three discoidal spines with the middle as the broadest, eleven internal spines; anterior tibiae with eleven spines that are relatively long and acute; tarsi very long and slender. Femora and tibiae of posterior legs long, slender, unarmed, tibiae not carinate. Banded cerci, long and slender. Subgenital plate average.
This new genus is close to
Chiromantis
of East Africa, but differs in the lesser expansion of the costal area whose veins are simple and the greater number of tibial spines.”
Therefore, we establish
Ichromantis
Paulian, 1957 as a junior synonym to
Platycalymma
Westwood, 1889
based on
the similarity of original generic descriptions, our examination of the
holotypes
of all three species, our compara-
tive examination of body measurements, general external morphology, and male genitalic morphology.