Lost and found: Rediscovery of the genus Margaromantis Piza, 1982 and consequential nomenclatural changes in the genus Colombiella Koçak & Kemal, 2008 (Mantodea: Mantidae, Photinainae)
Author
Rivera, Julio
text
Zootaxa
2010
2529
65
68
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.196502
55e9ab9e-a7be-41d4-a6a2-1cadfcbbcd2e
1175-5326
196502
Margaromantis planicephala
(
Rehn, 1916
)
n. comb.
=
Margaromantis margaritaria
Piza, 1982
n. syn.
Discussion.
The
holotype
of
Margaromantis margaritaria
(
Fig. 1
; compare to Fig. 30a of
Rehniella planicephala
(Lombardo, 1999))
is currently deposited in the Department of Entomology and Acarology, Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz", Universidade de São Paulo (ESALQ; Piracicaba, São Paulo State). The
type
has both the right fore and hind wings extended and for the most part is in good condition, with some damage to the edge of the anal area of the hind wing. The specimen bears three labels (
Fig. 1
): (1) G.J. Moraes/
9-3-79
/Petrolima-PE/
Brazil
/[No.] 873; (2)
9-3-79
/G.J. Moraes Col./PL./[No.] 873; (3)
Margaromantis
/
margaritarius
Piza/Tipo 3.
FIGURE 1
. Male holotype of
Margaromantis margaritaria
(coloration slightly modified from the original) and labels.
FIGURE 2
. A, Frontal view of the head of
Margaromantis margaritaria
(male; from Piza, 1982); B, Frontal view of the head of
Metriomantis planicephala
(female; from Rehn, 1916).
FIGURE 3.
Known distribution of
Margaromantis planicephala
and the type localities of
Margaromantis margaritaria
Piza
and
Metriomantis planicephala
Rehn.
The illustration of the head accompanying the original description of
Margaromantis margaritaria
is reproduced in
Fig. 2A
. This illustration is not well executed, as it is asymmetrical and does not reflect the real appearance and proportions of the specimen’s head. Despite this, the unusual shape of the head, the narrowness of the compound eyes and the broad, pentagonal-shaped frontal shield, characteristic of this species, can be observed in the drawing, especially when confronted with a more accurate design, such as that accompanying the description of
Metriomantis planicephala
published by
Rehn (1916)
, which is reproduced in
Fig. 2
B.
Distribution.
Rehn (1916)
cited the
type
locality of
Metriomantis planicephala
as “Ceará Mirim, State of Rio Grande do Sul;” the same locality also was cited by
Lombardo (1999)
. However, Ceará Mirim is actually a town located in Rio Grande do Norte State, which is the true
type
locality as indicated by
Otte (1978)
.
Lombardo (1999)
also reported
R. planicephala
from Rio Grande, Feira de Santana and “Bahia” (all in Bahia state) and from Gravatà (Pernambuco state). The
type
locality of
Margaromantis margaritaria
is Petrolima (Pernambuco state). Interestingly, the replacement name
Colombiella
proposed by
Koçak & Kemal (2008)
was intended to make reference to the distribution of
Colombiella planicephala
; however, this species does not occur in
Colombia
(
Agudelo
et al
. 2007
;
Salazar 2002
) as it seems to be restricted to eastern
Brazil
. The distribution of
Margaromantis planicephala
is shown in
Fig. 3
.