Mantophasmatodea from the Richtersveld in South Africa with description of two new genera and species

By

Wipfler, Benjamin
Theska, Tobias
Predel, Reinhard

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

746

Pages

137-160

Subjects

heelwalkers , Kuboesphasma , Lower Neoptera , Minutophasma , Polyneoptera , South Africa , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.746.14885

 

Abstract

Two new species and two new genera (Kuboesphasma, Minutophasma) of Mantophasmatodea that occur in the Richtersveld region of South Africa are described. Kuboesphasmacompactum gen. n., sp. n. was found only in a small area near the village of Kuboes, while Minutophasmarichtersveldense gen. n., sp. n. apparently inhabits a larger area in the Richtersveld. With these two new species, a total of four different mantophasmatodeans are known to live in this area. This is a remarkable exception to the remaining representatives of this order, where even a common occurrence of only two species is rare. We discuss this sympatry in the context of the phylogeny of the group. Additionally, we provide a map of the known distributions and a table with the most important taxonomic features of the mantophasmatodeans in the Richtersveld.