First assessment of the biodiversity of praying mantises (Insecta: Mantodea) in Cameroon with DNA barcoding.

Praying mantises are the apex insect predators in many ecosystems, nevertheless they receive relatively less recognition in biodiversity reviews. We report a first survey of diversity of praying mantises in Cameroon, which is situated in the Congo Basin region, one of the richest biodiversity hotspots. Combination of light trapping with manual collecting resulted in 495 specimens representing 62 species.

Functional morphology of the praying mantis male genitalia (Insecta: Mantodea).

Male genitalia in praying mantids are highly complex, but we know little of how they function. I combined the micro-computed tomography of a copulating pair of the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) with public videos of copulation in various species of Mantodea and an analysis of literature. The function of each major element is reviewed.

First record of the genus (Mantodea, Haaniidae, Arriini) from Thailand, with the description of a new species of moss-dwelling praying mantis.

Unnahachote & Shcherbakov, is described based on a male from central Thailand. This is the first record of Stål, 1877 from the country. The new species is closely allied to (Ge & Shen, 2008) from China, differing by the absence of prozonal tubercles, the elongated pronotum, nine tibial anteroventral spines, and the truncated hindwings.

A new genus and species of praying mantis (Insecta, Mantodea, Mantidae) from Indochina, with a key to Mantidae of South-East Asia.

Mekongomantis quinquespinosa gen. et sp. nov.