Mantophasmatodea: a new insect order with extant members in the Afrotropics.
A new insect order, Mantophasmatodea, is described on the basis of museum specimens of a new genus with two species: Mantophasma zephyra gen. et sp. nov. (one female from Namibia) and M. subsolana sp. nov. (one male from Tanzania). This is the first time since 1914 that a newly described extant insect taxon has proved unplaceable within a recognized order. Mantophasmatodeans are apterous carnivores. Their closest phylogenetic relationships may be to Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) and/or Phasmatodea (stick insects), but the morphological evidence is ambiguous. Raptophasma Zompro from Baltic amber is assigned to the Mantophasmatodea, revealing a wider previous range for the lineage.
Klass
Klaus-D
KD
Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. klass@snsd.de
Zompro
Oliver
O
Kristensen
Niels P
NP
Adis
Joachim
J
D000005:Abdomen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D004064:Digestive System / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D005835:Genitalia / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007313:Insecta / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D008297:Male; D009144:Museums; D009276:Namibia; D010802:Phylogeny; D013636:Tanzania; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D013909:Thorax / Q000033:anatomy & histology