A novel form of wasp mimicry in a new species of praying mantis from the Amazon rainforest,Vespamantoida wherleyigen. nov. sp. nov. (Mantodea, Mantoididae)

Abstract

A wasp mimicking praying mantis (Mantodea) of the early evolving Mantoididae family was discovered in 2013 at a research station near the Amazon River in Northern Peru. This adult specimen exhibited a striking bright red/orange and black coloration pattern that was undocumented in all known praying mantis species. We tested the status of this new specimen using external morphology, male genital dissections, and geographic distribution. Our findings demonstrate the specimen to represent a new species, Vespamantoida wherleyi gen. nov. sp. nov., that is closely allied with a recently described species, Mantoida toulgoeti Roy, 2010, both of which are included within the newly erected genus. To support our actions, we present high resolution images of museum preserved and living specimens, morphological illustrations, a generic-level distribution map, and recorded video of the behavior of the holotype taken in the field at the time of collection. The bright red/orange coloration contrasted with black markings, the general appearance of a hymenopteran that includes a narrowed wasp waist, and the locomotory patterns and antennal movements mark this newly discovered species as unique among all hymenopteran mimicking Mantoididae as well as all other praying mantises.

Phylogenetic relationships and divergence dating of Mantodea using mitochondrial phylogenomics

“…Praying mantises show considerable diversification of specializa-tion in external morphology, hunting strategy and mimicry (Edmunds & Brunner, 1999;Kumar, 1973). Different species can resemble flowers, dead leaves, bark, moss, lichens, sticks, grass and even mimic ants or wasps in the wild (Agudelo & Rafael, 2014;Jackson & Drummond, 1974;Milledge, 1990;Salazar, 2003;Svenson & Rodrigues, 2019). Beier (1964Beier ( , 1968 established eight families (Chaeteessidae, Mantoididae, Metallyticidae, Amorphoscelidae, Eremiaphilidae, Hymenopodidae, Empusidae and Mantidae) and twenty-eight subfamilies of which twenty-one are included in the largest family Mantidae.…”

“…Praying mantises show considerable diversification of specialization in external morphology, hunting strategy and mimicry (Edmunds & Brunner, 1999; Kumar, 1973). Different species can resemble flowers, dead leaves, bark, moss, lichens, sticks, grass and even mimic ants or wasps in the wild (Agudelo & Rafael, 2014; Jackson & Drummond, 1974; Milledge, 1990; Salazar, 2003; Svenson & Rodrigues, 2019).…”

Müllerian mimicry among bees and wasps: a review of current knowledge and future avenues of research

“…Convergence on a given colour pattern and the emergence of a mimicry ring will depend on patterns of co‐occurrence in space and time, as well as on the predator community present. It has long been recognised that phenological mismatch between co‐mimics is critical for predator education (Silberglied & Eisner, 1969; Waldbauer & Sheldon, 1971; Waldbauer et al ., 1977; Evans & Waldbauer, 1982; Gilbert, 2004; Hassall et al ., 2019; Svenson & Rodrigues, 2019; Hlaváček et al ., 2022). Phenology can influence the fitness of co‐mimics, especially when more or less unpalatable species form a mimicry ring, because education of predators depends on the temporal sequence of the encounter with unpalatable prey.…”

“…Howarth, Edmunds & Gilbert, 2004; Golding et al ., 2005; Hassall, Billington & Sherratt, 2019). Batesian mimics include stingless Hymenoptera species such as sawflies (Vilhelmsen, 2019), chalcidoid wasps (Garcete‐Barrett, 1999; Pauly, Vago & Wahis, 2003) and ichneumonid wasps (Evans, 1968; West‐Eberhard, Carpenter & Hanson, 1995), as well as other insect orders such as Lepidoptera (Poulton, 1897), Diptera (Myers, 1935; Brower, Van Zandt Brower & Westcott, 1960), Coleoptera (Linsley, 1959; Silberglied & Eisner, 1969; Lanteri & Del Rio, 2005), Hemiptera (Elkins, 1969), Orthoptera (Poulton, 1890), Neuroptera (Opler, 1981), Mantodea (Svenson & Rodrigues, 2019) and even some non‐insect arthropods such as spiders (Nentwig, 1985). While the profusion and diversity of mimics of bees and stinging wasps suggests an important protective value of their aposematic colorations, Müllerian mimicry among bees and stinging wasp species has attracted far less interest than Batesian mimicry.…”

Wing morphology of a new Cretaceous praying mantis solves the phylogenetic jigsaw of early‐diverging extant lineages

“…2500) belong to Artimantodea, commonly referred to as ‘praying mantises’ (Svenson & Whiting, 2009; Wieland & Svenson, 2018), a group that probably diversified during the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. Among other features, these insects are characterized by highly specialized hunting strategies, involving sophisticated camouflage (Svenson & Whiting, 2004; Svenson et al ., 2015, 2016; Schwarz & Roy, 2019; Svenson & Rodrigues, 2019) and prey capture adaptations on the head, forelegs and prothorax (Loxton & Nicholls, 1979; Wieland, 2013; Brannoch et al ., 2017; Rivera & Callohuari, 2019).…”