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Acanthopidae is the third most diverse family within the Neotropical praying mantids with its genera presenting a high similarity with dry leaves in different levels of senescence or lichens and moss. It has nine genera that have received numerous taxonomic treatments throughout the history of Neotropical mantises’ studies. One of those genera, Decimiana Uvarov, 1940, was revised by Lombardo (2000) and, since then, three species have been added to the genus. In this study, we recorded two species of dry-leaf praying mantids, Decimiana tessellata (Charpentier, 1841) and Decimiana hebardi Lombardo, 2000, for the first time for Mato Grosso do Sul state in Midwest Brazil. A description of male genitalia of both species is provided, and the female genitalia of both species are described for the first time, setting the bases for taxonomic comparison across Neotropical Mantodea lineages, contributing to systematics and phylogenetic discussions.

A new subspecies of the Asian mantis Hierodula patellifera (Audinet-Serville, 1839), Hierodula patellifera daitoana ssp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from the Daito Islands, the Ryukyus, Japan. This new subspecies is distinguished from the nominotypical subspecies H. patellifera patellifera in adulthood by the relatively larger body size, the larger number of antennal segments, the presence of a white marking along the dorsal-inner surface on the procoxa, and marginal spines of the procoxa comprising two large and several small tooth-like projections.

Abstract Insects have evolved numerous adaptations and colonized diverse terrestrial environments. Several polyneopterans, including dictyopterans (cockroaches and mantids) and locusts, have developed oothecae, but little is known about the molecular mechanism, physiological function, and evolutionary significance of ootheca formation. Here, we demonstrate that the cockroach asymmetric colleterial glands produce vitellogenins, proline-rich protein, and glycine-rich protein as major ootheca structural proteins (OSPs) that undergo sclerotization and melanization for ootheca formation through the cooperative protocatechuic acid pathway and dopachrome and dopaminechrome subpathway. Functionally, OSP sclerotization and melanization prevent eggs from losing water at warm and dry conditions, and thus effectively maintain embryo viability. Dictyopterans and locusts convergently evolved vitellogenins, apolipoprotein D, and laminins as OSPs, whereas within Dictyoptera, cockroaches and mantids independently developed glycine-rich protein and fibroins as OSPs. Highlighting the ecological-evolutionary importance, convergent ootheca formation represents a successful reproductive strategy in Polyneoptera that promoted the radiation and establishment of cockroaches, mantids, and locusts.

Mantids are charismatic insects due to their appearance and behaviors, but knowledge about them, in particular at the Neotropics, is scarce. Brunneria subaptera (Coptopterygidae) is the most abundant praying mantis species in Uruguay, inhabiting one of the world’s largest natural grasslands. Data from collections and field observations indicated that Uruguayan samples of B. subaptera only included females, whereas both sexes were found in Argentina. This extreme-biased sex ratio could be explained through thelytokous parthenogenesis. Endosymbiotic bacteria, such as Wolbachia , can induce parthenogenesis, though their role in sex ratio distortions in diploid insects is understudied, with limited evidence from species like Mantis religiosa , where no phenotypic effects were observed. To test if B. subaptera females from Uruguay reproduce by parthenogenesis and evaluate Wolbachia infection as a possible cause, we bred virgin females in the laboratory. All produce viable offspring, confirming parthenogenesis in the studied Uruguayan localities. However, Wolbachia infection was not detected. Future studies will focus on studying other factors that may cause parthenogenesis in this species. These findings advance our understanding of mantids in the Neotropics, but will also constitute a very important step to unravel the reproductive biology and evolutionary processes behind reproduction in Neotropical mantids.

Praying mantids are important models for studying a wide range of chromosome behaviors, yet few species of mantids have been characterized chromosomally. Here we show that the praying mantid Hierodula membranacea has a chromosome number of 2n = 27, and X 1 X 1 X 2 X 2 (female): X 1 X 2 Y (male) sex determination. In male meiosis I, the X 1 , X 2 , and Y chromosomes of H . membranacea form a sex trivalent, with the Y chromosome associating with one spindle pole and the X 1 and X 2 chromosomes facing the opposite spindle pole. While it is possible that such a sex trivalent could experience different spindle forces on each side of the trivalent, in H . membranacea the sex trivalent aligns at the spindle equator with all of the autosomes, and then the sex chromosomes separate in anaphase I simultaneously with the autosomes. With this observation, H . membranacea can be used as a model system to study the balance of forces acting on a trivalent during meiosis I and analyze the functional importance of chromosome alignment in metaphase as a preparatory step for subsequent correct chromosome segregation.

Consecutive and even concurrent captures of prey items are very likely to make better use of prey in high densities and frequencies. We experimentally tested the hypothesis that mantids are able to attack another prey item while predating on a previous one (multi-task predation). Observations confirmed this ability and revealed that such actions could be extended to additional prey items if available. Analyses of behavioural timelines were conducted by quantifying the behavioural flexibility and effects of an upcoming prey item on efficiency and pauses while predating on the current prey. The behavioural elements exhibited by multi-task predators towards prey were flexible, and their order was partially independent on the order of capture. They also coordinated the flow of overlapping predation by arranging behavioural tasks, by adjusting efficiency, and by using pauses. Computational simulations demonstrated that multi-task predators make use of frequent prey encounters more efficiently than serial predators, and the ultimate limiting factor could be the satiation points. The strategy of multi-task predators introduces a new perspective about how well a predator could be physically and cognitively evolved for prey abundant opportunities.Significance statementOur study explored the behavioural ecology of multi-task predatory behaviour in mantids through field surveys demonstrating their prey-busy patch choices, laboratory experiments examining cognitive control levels by testing a few critical hypotheses, and computational simulations quantifying respective foraging gains. Previous studies on vertebrate predators pursuing multiple prey items mostly revealed their physical tricks for reducing cognitive demands, while our findings on multi-task predation, in contrast, demonstrated the critical role of behavioural regulation and attentional processes in making use of prey-abundant scenarios in an invertebrate predator. Besides, the present study used the clear behavioural indicators of mantids as an innovative alternative to quantify the function of attention transitions in a multi-task animal.

Praying mantises are distributed all over the world. Though some Mantodea mitogenomes have been reported, an evolutionary genomic and phylogenetic analysis study lacks the latest taxonomic system. In the present study, four new mitogenomes were sequenced and annotated. Deroplatys truncate , D . lobate , Amorphoscelis chinensis and Macromantis sp. belong to Deroplatyidae, Amorphoscelidae and Photinaidae family, respectively. Our results indicated that the ATP8 gene may be lost in D . truncate and D . lobata mt genome, and four tRNA genes have not been found in D . truncate , D . lobata and Macromantis sp. A dN/dS pair analysis was conducted and it was found that all genes have evolved under purifying selection. Furthermore, we tested the phylogenetic relationships between the eight families of the Mantodea, including 35 species of praying Mantis. Based on the complete mitochondrial genome data, it was also suggested as sister to Deroplatyidae + Mantidae, Metallyticus sp., the only representative of Metallyticidae, is sister to the remaining mantises. Our results support the taxonomic system of Schwarz and Roy and are consistent with previous studies.

Background matching, an important form of camouflage, can be challenging for animals that range across heterogeneously colored habitats. To remain cryptic in such habitats, animals may employ color change, background choice, or generalist coloration, and the efficacy of these strategies may be influenced by an animal's mobility. We examined camouflage strategies in the praying mantis Stagmomantis limbata. We reared mantids in green or brown containers to test whether mantids change color over development to match their background. Additionally, we tested whether adult mantids (i) employ behavioral background choice, (ii) exhibit sexual color dimorphism, and (iii) differ in mobility in the field. Mantids changed color during development in response to their background, but the effect was small and variable. Adult mantids did not show background choice. In the field, adult males moved greater distances than females. Adults exhibited sexual color dimorphism: Males were heterogeneous in coloration (green body with brown pronotum), while females were more homogeneous in color, ranging continuously from green to brown. We suggest a hypothesis that differences in mobility between the sexes have led to the sexual color dimorphism observed and that this dimorphism reflects different camouflage strategies, with highly mobile males showing a generalist coloration and more sedentary females showing a specialist coloration. The present study investigates color change, background choice, sexual color dimorphism, and movement rates in a praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata. Nymphs changed color over development in response to rearing container color. Adults showed sexual color dimorphisms, which could potentially reflect different camouflage strategies.

The individual behavioral traits of predators and prey sometimes determine the outcome of their interactions. Here, we examine whether changes to habitat complexity alter the effects of predator and prey behavior on their survival rates. Specifically, we test whether behavioral traits (activity level, boldness, and perch height) measured in predators and prey or multivariate behavioral volumes best predict the survival rates of both trophic levels in staged mesocosms with contrasting structural complexity. Behavioral volumes and hypervolumes are a composite group-level behavioral diversity metric built from the individual-level behavioral traits we measured in predators and prey. We stocked mesocosms with a host plant and groups of cannibalistic predators (n = 5 mantises/mesocosm) and their prey (n = 15 katydids/mesocosm), and mesocosms varied in the presence/absence of additional non-living climbing structures. We found that mantis survival rates were unrelated to any behavioral metric considered here, but were higher in structurally complex mesocosms. Unexpectedly, katydids were more likely to survive when mantis groups occupied larger behavioral volumes, indicating that more behaviorally diverse predator groups are less lethal. Katydid mortality was also increased when both predators and prey exhibited higher average perch heights, but this effect was increased by the addition of supplemental structure. This is consistent with the expectation that structural complexity increases the effect of intraspecific behavioral variation on prey survival rates. Collectively, these results convey that the effects of predator and prey behavior on prey survival could depend highly on the environment in which they are evaluated.

Prey–predator interaction is a phenomenon important to our understanding of community dynamics. Mantises and web-weaving spiders are predators that belong to the same guild, and they can be each other’s predator and prey. However, their relationship is generally asymmetrical, with spiders often being the prey of the mantises. Here, we report a rare opposite case in which an adult female mantis, Hierodula chinensis Werner, 1929, was preyed upon by the orb-web weaving spider Gibbaranea abscissa (Karsch, 1879), without using a web, in a late autumn field in Japan. We suggest that differences in cold tolerance allowed the small spider to hunt a mantis prey that was approximately eight times its size.