Short Communication Journal of Orthoptera Research 2021, 30(1): 95-98 A new subspecies of the mantis Hierodula patellifera (Mantodea: Mantidae) from the Daito Islands, the Ryukyus, Japan KAZUYUKI OSHIMA! 1 Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan. Corresponding author: Kazuyuki Oshima (hexapoda0364@gmail.com) Academic editor: Matan Shelomi | Received 14 December 2020 | Accepted 8 February 2021 | Published 3 June 2021 http://zoobank.org/D3AA126A-4AF7-4DAA-8EEA-59B45AG6817A5 Citation: Oshima K (2021) A new subspecies of the mantis Hierodula patellifera (Mantodea: Mantidae) from the Daito Islands, the Ryukyus, Japan. Journal of Orthoptera Research 30(1): 95-98. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.30.62022 Abstract A new subspecies of the Asian mantis Hierodula patellifera (Audinet- Serville, 1839), Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from the Daito Islands, the Ryukyus, Japan. This new subspecies is distinguished from the nominotypical subspecies H. pa- tellifera patellifera in adulthood by the relatively larger body size, the larger number of antennal segments, the presence of a white marking along the dorsal-inner surface on the procoxa, and marginal spines of the procoxa comprising two large and several small tooth-like projections. Keywords Dictyoptera, Kita-daito-jima Island, Minami-daito-jima Island, nymph, Okinawa, taxonomy Introduction The mantis species Hierodula patellifera (Audinet-Serville, 1839) (Mantodea: Mantidae) is widely distributed in the Oriental and eastern Palearctic regions, including India, Nepal, China, Tai- wan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, New Guinea, Java, Sumba, the Philippines, Italy, France, and Hawaii (Fig. 1; Ehrmann 2002, Leong 2009, Ehrmann and Borer 2015, Patel and Singh 2016, Mukherjee et al. 2017, Battiston et al. 2019, Moulin 2020). In Japan, it is distributed in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Ryukyus (Nakamine 2016, Oshima et al. 2020). It is readily distinguished from other members of the genus by the marginal spines of the procoxa, which are two to five in num- ber, white or yellow, well defined, and tear drop shaped (Leong 2009, Zhu et al. 2012, Chatterjee and Srinivasan 2013, Majum- der et al. 2015, Shcherbakov and Anisyutkin 2018). In this spe- cies, a single subspecies, H. patellifera manillana Giglio-Tos, 1912, was formerly recognized as part of the Philippine population by Giglio-Tos (1912) and Beier (1935), although no justification for this designation was provided. However, this subspecies has been considered a synonym of H. patellifera by Ehrmann (2002) and subsequent authors (Nakamine 2016, Otte et al. 2020). At present, H. patellifera has no infraspecific taxa. The Daito Islands consist of five oceanic islands located in the Philippine Sea southeast of the main island of Okinawa, Japan. Among these islands, those of Kita-daito-jima and Minami-daito- jima, which are populated by humans, lie approximately 360 km from the nearest neighboring island, Okinawa-jima, and provide a unique isolated ecosystem populated by several endemic species (Shimizu 2003). During an investigation of the mantis fauna of the Daito Is- lands between 2015 and 2018, I collected several individuals of an indeterminate Hierodula species from both Kita-daito-jima Island and Minami-daito-jima Island. Detailed observations of the male genitalia indicated that these individuals were clearly specimens of H. patellifera (Fig. 2); however, other morphological characters, including the relative length of the body, number of antennal segments, coloration of the procoxae, and shape of the marginal spines, were distinctly different from those of other populations of the species. Eventually, I considered the possibility that the Daito Islands population is a distinct subspecies. In the present paper, I describe this putative subspecies of H. patellifera from the Daito Islands, for which the name Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov. is proposed. Materials and methods Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov. was occasionally collected by K. Oshima between 2015 and 2018. Day and night surveys involv- ing opportunistic collections were conducted on Minami-daito-jima Island from February 17 to 20, 2015 and May 14 to 17, 2016, and on Kita-daito-jima Island from September 24 to 26, 2016 and June 24 to 28, 2018. Individuals that were nymphs at the time of collection were reared to adulthood and then dried for morphological obser- vations. The specimens were examined under a stereoscopic micro- scope (SZ60; Olympus, Tokyo, Japan), and photographs were taken using a digital camera (EOS8000D; Canon, Tokyo, Japan). Measure- ments of body length (from the anterior margin of the pronotum to the apex of the wing) were taken using a ruler. Observations and photographs were based on both fresh and dried specimens. The type specimens have been deposited in the Laboratory of Entomol- ogy, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Atsugi, Japan (LETUA). JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) 96 0 1500 km ———— | Fig. 1. Total known distribution of Hierodula patellifera in Asia. Results Taxonomy Family Mantidae Latreille, 1802 Subfamily Hierodulinae Brunner de Wattenwyl, 1893 Genus Hierodula Burmeister, 1838 Nominal species Hierodula membranacea (Burmeister, 1838) Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov. http://zoobank.org/19A70420-0A90-493A-9CE5-E8F839CFE2C3 Figs 2-5, 7 Type material.—Holotype: JAPAN e¢ <4; Okinawa, Shimajiri- gun, Kita-daito-jima Is., Kita-daito-son, Minato; 25°57'16"N, 131°17'17"E; 24 Jun. 2018; K. Oshima leg.; LETUA-IC-2021-00001. Paratypes: JAPAN ¢ 16, 29; (collected as nymphs); Okina- wa, Shimajiri-gun, Kita-daito-jima Is., Kita-daito-son, Minato; 25°57'19"N, 131°17'16"E; 25-26 Oct. 2016; K. Oshima leg.; LE- TUA-IC-2021-00002-00004 ¢ 2; Okinawa, Shimajiri-gun, Kita- daito-jima Is., Kita-daito-son, Minato; 25°57'16"N, 131°17'17"E; 24-25 Jun. 2018; K. Oshima leg.; LETUA-IC-2021-00005-00006 e 23, 22 (collected as nymphs); Okinawa, Shimajiri-gun, Kita- daito-jima Is., Kita-daito-son, Minato; 25°57'19"N, 131°17'16"E; 24-26 Jun. 2018; K. Oshima leg.; LETUA-IC-2021-00007-00010 e 13 (collected as nymph); Okinawa, Shimajiri-gun, Minami- daito-jima Is., Minami-daito-son, Kita; 25°51'59"N, 131°14'50"E; 17 Feb. 2015; K. Oshima leg.; LETUA-IC-2021-00011 ¢ 192 (col- lected as nymph); Okinawa, Shimajiri-gun, Minami-daito-jima Is., Minami-daito-son, Kita; 25°51'58"N, 131°14'50"E; 16 Apr. 2016; K. Oshima leg.; LETUA-IC-2021-00012 ¢ 1° (collected as nymph); Okinawa, Shimajiri-gun, Minami-daito-jima Is., Minami-daito- son, Ikenosawa; 25°49'12"N, 131°13'18"E; 17 Apr. 2016; K. Os- hima leg.; LETUA-IC-2021-00013. K. OSHIMA Kita-daito-jima Is. Okinawa-jima Is. Minami-daito-jima oe © Hierodula patellifera patellifera @ Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov. Fig. 2. Disarticulated genital complex (to isolate the individual phallomeres) of Hierodula patellifera, male, dorsal view: A-C. Hi- erodula patellifera patellifera from Okinawa-jima Is.; D-F. Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov., from Kita-daito-jima Is. (holotype); A, D. Left phallomere; B, E. Ventral phallomere; C, F. Right phal- lomere. Scale bar: 1 mm. JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) K. OSHIMA Fig. 3. Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov., male, holotype. Habitus, dorsal view. Scale bar: 10 mm. Fig. 4. Procoxa of Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov., lateral view: A. Male, holotype; B. Female, paratype, before discoloration. Scale bars: 10 mm. Subspecies characters.—Adult: Differs from the nominotypical sub- species H. patellifera patellifera by having the following characters: Body length 64-77 mm in males, 69-79 mm in females; antenna at most 115-segmented in both sexes; procoxa (Fig. 4A, B) with a large white marking along dorsal-inner surface (white marking Fig. 5. Procoxa in nymphal stages of Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov., male, lateral view: A. 1% instar; B. 2" instar; C. 3" instar; D. 4" instar; E. 5" instar; FE 6" instar; G. 7 (penultimate) instar; H. 8" (last) instar. Scale bars: 1 mm. Fig. 6. Habitats of Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov. on Kita- daito-jima Island. may become unclear in dry specimens), and with 2 large and sev- eral small tooth-like marginal spines (not well-defined). Nymph: Procoxa of 1‘- and 2"*-instars (Fig. 5A, B) lacking white markings and marginal spines; procoxa of 3“ instar (Fig. 5C) with or with- out a small white marking, and with slightly developed, tooth-like marginal spines; procoxa of 4" instar (Fig. 5D) with 2 small, white markings and with slightly developed, tooth-like marginal spines; procoxa of 5" instar (Fig. 5E) with 2 medium-sized, irregular, white markings and with 2 large (somewhat developed) and several small tooth-like marginal spines; procoxa of 6"- to last-instars (Fig. 5F- H) with a large-sized and irregular white marking and with 2 large (well developed) and several small tooth-like marginal spines. Distribution. —Kita-daito-jima Is. and Minami-daito-jima Is., the Ryukyus, Japan. Etymology.—This subspecific name is named after the Daito Is- lands, the type locality of the subspecies; an adjective. JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) Fig. 7. A Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov. female and ootheca immediately after oviposition. Ecology.—During my surveys, adults and nymphs appeared from May to July and in all seasons, respectively. Both adults and nymphs were found in grassland adjacent to a sugarcane field (Fig. 6) and forest edges, particularly on the bushy tree Acalypha wilkesi- ana Mill. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae). Some specimens were also found in a residential area. Oothecae were laid on twigs and trunks as well as on artificial objects (Fig. 7). Acknowledgements I express my cordial thanks to Kazuhisa Yamasaki (the Uni- versity of Tokyo) for his constructive suggestions. I would also like to thank Yoshinobu Kusumoto (Western Region Agricultural Research Center, NARO) and Koichi Tanaka (Tokyo University of Agriculture) for assistance regarding the identification of plant species, the members of our laboratory for kindly offering materi- K. 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