Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2023 | 15(8): 23812–23816
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8285.15.8.23812-23816
#8285 | Received 27
November 2022 | Final received 08 August 2023 | Finally accepted 10 August 2023
Mantispa indica Westwood, 1852 (Neuroptera:
Mantispidae), a rare species with some morphological notes from Assam, India
Kushal Choudhury
Department of Zoology, Bodoland
University, Kokrajhar, Assam 783370, India.
Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publication: 26 August 2023 (online &
print)
Citation: Choudhury K. (2023). Mantispa indica Westwood, 1852
(Neuroptera: Mantispidae), a rare species with some morphological notes from
Assam, India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 15(8): 23812–23816. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8285.15.8.23812-23816
Copyright: © Choudhury 2023. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding:
None.
Competing interests:
The author declares no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The author extends heartfelt
gratitude to Manashi Pathak, for her unwavering support throughout the process
of preparing this manuscript. Additionally, I would like to express my sincere
appreciation to the Department of Zoology, Science College Kokrajhar for their
generous provision of a microscope whenever it was required for my research.
Lastly, I am indebted to anonymous reviewer whose invaluable comments
significantly contributed to enhancing the quality of this manuscript.
Abstract: Mantispa indica (Westwood) is an insufficiently
explored species under the family Mantispidae (Neuroptera) with limited
understanding. Its presence has been documented in various regions of India and
Nepal over time. Nevertheless, a comprehensive examination of its morphometric
characteristics has been lacking. This research presents a novel morphological
comparison of male and female specimens, accompanied by appropriate
illustrations, from two distinct protected areas in Assam, India.
Keywords:
Antenna, Chakrashila, morphological comparison, Neuropteridae, protected
areas, sexes.
Abbreviations: OUMNH—Oxford University Museum of
Natural History | NHMUK—Natural History Museum in London | ZSI—Zoological
Survey of India.
Mantispidae (Leach, 1815) is one
of the taxonomically complex, least studied families belonging to the highly
diverse order Neuroptera. This group of insects is noteworthy because of their
raptorial front legs attached to the anterior margin of an elongate prothorax,
they resemble small praying mantids of the order Mantodea, for which they are
popularly called false mantids or Mantidfly (Ohl 2007). The overall similarity
between mantispids and mantids is clearly due to convergent evolution of
morphological similarities of two unrelated insect groups (Cannings &
Cannings 2006). In spite of their adaptive significance, this group of insects
have received relatively little attention, which is mainly due to less
abundance, relatively small number of species and complicated life-cycle
(Bhattacharjee et al. 2010). They show hypermetamorphic type of development
where, the first instar larvae are campodeiform and quite mobile, and the last
two instars are scarabaeiform and relatively immobile (Ghosh 2000; Ohl 2004).
In addition, the biology of most species is unknown, those that are known have
larvae that feed on Hymenoptera and spiders.
Worldwide, the family Mantispidae
represents 410 species, of which 121 species belonging to the genus Mantispa
are recorded from the Oriental region (Ohl 2007). The Indian Neuropteridae
consists of 17 species under seven genera under a single subfamily Mantispinae
(Ohl 2007; Chandra & Sharma 2009). The neuropteran fauna of northeastern
India was catalogued by Ghosh (2000) represented by two genera: Climaciella Enderlein
and Mantispa Illiger. Ghosh (2000) reported three species of Mantispa
from the Indian subcontinent, viz.: Mantispa nodosa Westwood (present
name Euclimacia nodosa), Mantispa indica Westwood, and Mantispa
rugicollis Navas. Of late, Sharma & Talmale (2000) reported an
unidentified species of Mantispa sp. from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve,
Maharashtra, India. Bhattacharjee et al. (2010) reported the Mantispa nodosa
(Westwood, 1847) from West Bengal of India. Ohl (2004) reported the distribution
of Mantispa indica from Indian oriental, Calcutta, Nepalia. Ghosh (2000)
reported distribution of Mantispa indica from Assam (Sibsagar),
Calcutta, Darjeeling, Meghalaya, Sikkim, western Himalaya, and Karnataka. Very
recently, Suryanarayanan & Bijoy (2021) reported Mantispilla indica
from the Western Ghats in India. But its occurrence in Assam particularly in
lower Assam is still doubtful as there is no sufficient supporting literature
against it. Thus, the present paper provides first record from this area with
some standard measurements of body parts following Ohl (2004) that facilitate
future comparison with other species in Mantispa.
Materials and Methods
Male and female individuals were
collected from two different localities (Male 26.4290N and 90.4440E)
Female (26.7360N & 90.4720E) during the year 2018 and
2020. The female was collected on a hot sunny day of June 2018, around
1400–1500 h in Ultapani Reserve under Haltugaon forest division while the male
was collected by light trapping using a CFL bulb hung against a white sheet of
cloth in August 2020 in Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary of Assam. The mantispid
was hovering over the bulb at 1900–1930 h and captured by insect net. Both the
samples were preserved in 80% ethanol following Ghosh (1998) and stored for
future reference in the laboratory of Ecology and Wildlife, Department of
Zoology, Bodoland University, Kokrajhar, Assam. The species was identified
following available literature and comparing with the samples of Hope
Entomological Collection, Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Tauber
et al. 2019). Images were captured by Zoom Stereo Microscope LB-340 and Canon
EOS 500D. The measurements are in millimetre made with an eyepiece graticule
following the software MICAPS MICAPS-MicroView.
Nomenclature: The name is now the same as the
original, and it is listed as such by Ohl (2004: 184). For a while, the species
was known as Mantispa (Mantispilla) indica (Westwood)
[combination by Enderlein (1910: 346)]. Later, the name Mantispilla was
synonymized with Mantispa by Penny (1982: 217).
Type species: Westwood’s description
mentioned two depositories (British Museum and his own collection), and Ohl
(2004: 184) reported seeing types at the OUMNH and the NHMUK. Two types (sexes
unconfirmed, one probably female) are in the OUMNH (NEUR0005-01, -02; Figures
55, 56) (Tauber et al. 2019).
Distribution: Mantispida indica was
previously recorded in some places in India and Nepal. Among these, Kolkata and
Darjeeling of West Bengal, East Garo Hills of Meghalaya, Sikkim, Sibsagar of
Assam, Mysore of Karnataka, Jodhpur of Rajasthan, Kangra Valley in Himachal
Pradesh (Ghosh & Sen 1977; Ghosh 1998, 2000; Sharma & Chandra 2013).
Very recently, it was also cited from Western Ghats (Suryanarayanan & Bijoy
2021).
Habit and Habitat: The female was reported while
seating on a tender leaf of Sida sp. on the road side where the upper
canopy was open. The individual was found immovable for about 10 minutes before
capture. Perhaps the individual was waiting for its prey. On the other hand,
male was attracted towards the CFL bulb while light trapping and hovering over
the bulb. The habitat was mostly dominated by the Sal trees (Shorea robusta)
along with bamboo patches. Flying and walking pattern was observed and recorded
inside the rearing box (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 ft). They usually do not fly for long
distance and while flying they resemble to the wasp species. Besides, they walk
within a short distance with the help of meta and meso-thoracic pair of legs.
Antennas are moving straight up and down movement. Like other neuropteran
insects the mantispids are also solitary in nature. Besides, their peculiar
lifecycle, solitary nature and extremely low abundance they are very difficult
to recognise in nature.
Diagnosis of sexes
Female: Pronotum dorsally yellow but
ventro-laterally dark brown. Black lines in the margin of precoxa and coxa are
distinct. Abdomen eight segmented with dark brown lines at the junction of each
tergite. Yellow band of antenna are absent. Underside of femur is
blackish-brown. Abdomen is comparatively larger than the male (Image 1).
Wings: Hyaline; veins black; radius
yellow; pterostigma elongate and red; with 7–8 oblique discoidal cells. In
genus Mantispa only one row of discal cells presents in both wings
(Aspöck & Aspöck 1994).
Measurements and ratios (in mm)
of male and female: A few measurements were depicted of male and female for a more detailed
description (Table 1). For convenience, Lambkin (1986) abbreviations are added
in brackets after the descriptions (e.g., minimum frontal eye distance [WBE]”).
Male: Body dark brown and slander.
Lower part of the abdomen yellowish with eight abdominal segments. Abdomen
dorso-ventrally flattened with prominent terminal gonocoxaite. Pronotum dark
brown. Underside of femur is blackish-brown. Antenna consists of 28 articles
with a distinct yellow band. Black line in the margin of precoxa and coxa are
absent (Image 2).
Wings: Hyaline; veins black; radius
yellow; pterostigma elongate and brown; with 7-8 oblique discoidal cells.
Conclusion
Northeastern India is a
biodiversity hotspot with a large number of endemic elements within its fauna
and flora. But order Mantispidae was poorly documented from this region. Though
the species are solitary, low abundance and obscure in nature, the occurrence
of both male and female individuals from two different locations indicates the
presence of more Mantispidae than presently known. Accordingly, extensive
survey and collection is needed throughout the region so as to further expand
our knowledge of the diversity, conservation status as well as to discover the
biology of these fascinating species.
Table 1. Measurements and ratios
of male and female Mantispa indica.
|
Parameters |
Male (mm) |
Female (mm) |
|
Minimum frontal eye distance
[WNE] |
0.51 |
0.97 |
|
Maximum frontal head width
including eyes [WAE] |
2.06 |
2.22 |
|
Pronotal length, measured along
dorsal midline [LP] |
3.14 |
3.71 |
|
Maximum pronotal width: near
head / near meso-thorax /middle at least thick part |
1.03/ 0.62/0.46 |
1.13/0.81/0.41 |
|
Maximum fore femoral length
[LFF] |
4.39 |
3.19 |
|
Maximum fore femoral width
[WFF] |
1.45 |
1.24 |
|
Fore femoral ratio (length :
width) [LFF : WFF] |
3.02 |
2.56 |
|
Maximum mid femoral length
[LMF] |
2.79 |
2.29 |
|
Mid femoral ratio (mid femoral
length: head width including eyes) [LMF : WAE] |
1.35 |
1.03 |
|
Maximum forewing length [LFW] |
10.16 |
11.46 |
|
Maximum forewing width
(measured near pterostigma) [WFW] |
3.06 |
3.02 |
|
Forewing ratio: (length :
width) [LFW : WFW] |
3.32 |
3.79 |
|
Maximum hind wing length |
9.1 |
9.94 |
|
Maximum hind wing width |
2.68 |
2.83 |
|
Hind wing ratio (length :
width) |
3.39 |
3.51 |
|
Total body length (excluding appendages) |
10.45 |
11.28 |
|
Antenna segment |
28 |
Damaged |
|
Meso-thorax |
1.29 (B)/1.02(L) |
1.70 (B)/1.25 (L) |
|
Meta-thorax |
1.15 (L)/ 0.80 (B) |
1.70 (B)/0.98 (L) |
|
Spines |
Long-1; Middium-3; Small-14 |
Long-1; Middium-3; Small-12 |
B—Breath | L—Length.
For images
- - click here for full PDF
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