Research Article |
Corresponding author: Nantasak Pinkaew ( agrnsp@ku.ac.th ) Academic editor: Fred Legendre
© 2021 Thornthan Unnahachote, Evgeny Shcherbakov, Nantasak Pinkaew.
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:
Unnahachote T, Shcherbakov E, Pinkaew N (2021) First record of the genus Arria (Mantodea, Haaniidae, Arriini) from Thailand, with the description of a new species of moss-dwelling praying mantis. ZooKeys 1028: 49-60. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1028.62347
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Arria muscoamicta Unnahachote & Shcherbakov, sp. nov. is described based on a male from central Thailand. This is the first record of Arria Stål, 1877 from the country. The new species is closely allied to A. leigongshanensis (Ge & Shen, 2008) from China, differing by the absence of prozonal tubercles, the elongated pronotum, nine tibial anteroventral spines, and the truncated hindwings. The new species is a moss-camouflaging mantis living at high altitude. The taxonomic problems of the genus are briefly discussed.
Camouflage, predatory insect, Southeast Asia, taxonomy
There are many genera of praying mantises from both the Old and the New World, and some members are camouflaged as moss, such as the following genera: Astape Stål, 1877, Haania Saussure, 1871, Majangella Giglio-Tos, 1915, and Pseudopogonogaster Beier, 1942. These, as well as others, are colloquially referred to as “moss mantises”. Almost all of them have evolved special morphology, such as spines, lobes, and tubercles on their bodies, which aid in their camouflage on moss beds (
The male holotype was collected at a light trap and preserved in a freezer before being pinned on a mounting block and dried. Five nymphs were found on separate occasions by visual inspection in the moss close to where the holotype was collected. The holotype is deposited at the Thailand Natural History Museum (THNHM). The nymphs could not be preserved.
For genitalia preparations, the tip of abdomen was separated from the specimen and macerated in 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, then rinsed with demineralised water and placed in glycerine for dissection. Afterwards it was placed in a genital vial with glycerine for long-term preservation and pinned together with the holotype.
Observation of the external structures and male genitalia were made with an Optika microscope (Optika Microscopes, Italy). Live photographs of the adult were taken by W. Pathomwattananuruk with a Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 60 mm lens attached to a Nikon D7000 camera. Live photograph of the nymph was taken by W. Khaikaew with an AF-S Micro 60 mm f/2.8G lens attached to a Nikon D610. Male genitalia photographs were taken with a Leica S8 APO stereomicroscope equipped with a Leica MC170 HD camera module. The classification system is according to
AL Ala length
AvS Anteroventral spine
CfW Costal field width of tegmen
DS Discoidal spine
F Femur
HW Head width
MsFL Mesofemur length
MstL Mesotarsus length
MsTL Mesotibia length
MtFL Metafemur length
MttL Metatarsus length
MtTL Metatibia length
MzL Metazone length
PCL Procoxa length
PFL Profemur length
PL Pronotum length
PnW Pronotum narrow width
PtL Protarsus length
PTL Protibia length
PvS Posteroventral spine
PW Pronotum width
PzL Prozone length
T Tibia
TgL Tegmen length
TL Total length
GUGC Institute of Entomology Guizhou University, Guiyang, China;
THNHM Thailand Natural History Museum, Pathum Thani, Thailand.
Family Haaniidae Giglio-Tos, 1915
Subfamily Haaniinae Giglio-Tos, 1915
Tribe Arriini Giglio-Tos, 1919
Genus Arria Stål, 1877
Holotype. Thailand – Nakhon Nayok Province • 1 ♂; Mueang district, Hin Tung subdistrict; 14°21'56"N, 101°24'1"E; 01.IX.2018; alt. 1,240 m; W. Pathomwattananuruk leg.; THNHM-I-23353.
Arria sp. Laos – Bokeo • 1 ♂; Van Pak Len, an Brücke Goldenes Dreieck; 20°12'36"N, 100°3'36"E; 01.IX.2018, IV.1979; H. Lehmannsen leg. (
Arria leigongshanensis (Ge & Chen, 2008). Holotype; CHINA – Guizhou • 1 ♂; Leishan, Leigongshan; 13.IX.2005; Song Qiong-Zhang leg. (GUGC).
A. muscoamicta sp. nov. is similar to the type species of Arria, A. cinctipes, in foreleg armament and shape of the prothorax and wings; it fits the current concept of the genus Arria (but see Discussion).
Arria muscoamicta sp. nov. can be distinguished from the most similar species, A. leigongshanensis, by the following characters: 1) pronotum distinctly longer; MzL/PzL = 1.97 [vs MzL/PzL = 1.24], 2) prozone without distinct pair of conical spines posteriorly [vs with distinct pair of conical spines posteriorly, anteriad of supracoxal sulcus], 3) foretibia have nine anteroventral spines [vs 11–13 anteroventral spines], 4) apical lobe of hindwing almost truncated [vs more or less parabolic].
Arria muscoamicta sp. nov. can also be easily distinguished from A. cinctipes by the following characters: 1) six tibial posteroventral spines [vs seven tibial posteroventral spines], 2) lack of a pair of small conical tubercles in prozone posteriorly [presence of a pair of small conical tubercles in prozone posteriorly]; from A. meghalayensis by six tibial posteroventral spines [vs seven tibial posteroventral spines]; from A. oreophilus by following characters: 1) present of conical tubercles on dorsal surface of pronotum [vs lack of conical tubercles, relatively smooth in male], 2) forewing not narrows distally [vs forewing narrows distally]; from A. sticta and A. pallida by the apex of hindwing more or less truncate [vs pointed apex].
The name of the species means “clothed by moss” in Latin and refers to the moss-like colouration and morphology of the adults and especially the nymphs.
Adult male. Head (Fig.
Pronotum
(Fig.
Prothoracic leg
(Figs
Meso- and metathoracic legs. Long and slender with fine setae, without dilations or projections. Femora with rounded genicular lobes each bearing a single short apical spine. Tibiae with two apical spines. First tarsomere of mesotarsus slightly longer than remaining segments combined. First tarsomere of metatarsus much longer than remaining segments combined.
Flight organs. Forewing long, narrow, with rounded apex and covered by small setae. Costal area relatively narrow. Hindwing with almost truncated apex bearing small lobe anteriorly, protruding a little beyond forewing in resting position.
Abdomen.
Narrow, with small but distinct, acute lateral lobes on each abdominal tergite (Fig.
Genitalia
(Fig.
Process paa simple, moderately long, directed to the left, but gently curving anteriorly. Edge pba with only one process, presumed to be afa. Afa membranous, moderately sized, bulbous. Pouch pne narrow and gently S-shaped in its anterior part, its posterior and ventral walls sclerotised by sclerite L1. L1 roughly triangular, widened in its right part and sclerotising area of pba immediately anteriad of afa as well as area to the left of afa (on pne plane) but not afa itself. Articulation A2 very wide, articulation A4 absent. Sclerite L2 elongated, with narrow left arm, approximately square right arm and slightly twists along posterior wall of paa leaving dorsal surface of paa weakly sclerotised.
Right phallomere triangular, with strongly concave left edge. Lobe fda covered by short, not very sparse setae within depressions at apex, and sclerotised by sclerite R1A dorsally and along the edges. Arm bm simple, flat. Gap between sclerites R1A and R1B apparent, narrow. Apophysis pia long, partially sclerotised by R1A and in the sclerotised part with slightly uneven edge on macroscale, tuberculate on microscale. Apophysis pva claw-shaped, sclerotised by sclerite R1D. Groove lge very long and narrow, sclerotised by R1B. Sclerite R3 relatively short, axe-shaped, groove age very wide.
Female. Unknown.
Measurements (mm). TL = 42.7, HW = 4.3, PL = 9.2, PW = 3.0, PnW = 1.4, PzL = 3.1, MzL = 6.1, TgL = 29.3, CfW = 1.1, AL = 26.9, PCL = 6.3, PFL = 8.5, PTL = 4.6, PtL = 5.5, MsFL = 9.1, MsTL = 7.8, MstL = 6.3, MtFL = 10.5, MtTL = 10.0, MttL = 8.5
Colouration. Body pale greenish to brownish with irregular, brownish patches scattered across its surface. Pronotum lighter and more monochrome, with two barely contrasting lateral bands anterior of supracoxal sulcus. Posterior surfaces of prothoracic coxa, femur, and tibia each with two or three darkened bands with highly irregular edges. Meso- and metathoracic legs also with two or three indistinct darkened bands, but only on femur and tibia. Forewing beige with large and small, irregular, brown patches across its surface and interrupted darkened areas along the main veins. Hindwing subhyaline, with darker patches present on apical lobe. Abdomen with longitudinal median stripe paler than lateral ones.
Arria muscoamicta sp. nov. lives in evergreen mossy forests at high elevations of approximately 1,200 m above sea level in Thailand. The dominant trees of the region include oaks and chestnuts such as Lithocarpus, Quercus, and Castanopsis, which are covered by bryophytes and epiphytes (
While this work was in peer review, another paper has been published (
Arria muscoamicta sp. nov. is similar to the type species of Arria, A. cinctipes, in so many respects (e.g., the shape of pronotum and the presence of metazonal tubercles) that we consider our combination to remain a valid one. However, as shown above, the taxonomy of the tribe Arriini as a whole needs revision. This would require genital preparation of all holotypes, currently deposited in the museums of USA (1 species), Sweden (1 species), India (1 species), and China (the remainder). Molecular and ecological data might also provide important insights. The discovery of additional new species in this enigmatic and poorly known group of mantodeans is also highly likely.
We wish to express our gratitude to Prof. Dr Jichun Xing (Guizhou University) who provided photographs of the Arria leigongshanensis holotype and Gunvi Lindberg (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet) who provided photographs of the A. cinctipes holotype for comparison with the new species. TU also thanks Wuttipon Pathomwattananuruk and Wuttikrai Khaikaew for their support in collecting material and taking the photographs. ES would like to express sincere gratitude to Alexander Riedel (
This research is funded by Kasetsart University through the Graduate School Fellowship Program.