Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Mantidae

Posted by Rui Andrade on 09-08-2007 14:10
#1

I found this mantid and I hope you can help me identify it.
Thanks

locality: Montesinho, Portugal
date: 2007/08/03

img258.imageshack.us/img258/1795/mantidae1uy4.jpg

img258.imageshack.us/img258/2186/mantidae2wz6.jpg

Edited by Rui Andrade on 16-11-2007 21:39

Posted by Isidro on 09-08-2007 15:47
#2

Iris oratoria, I think.

But a view o the posterior wings will make the identification 100% sure.

And remember the rules of the forum... If you said the size, we can be think in Iris or in Ameles... the pronotum looks too short for an Iris but can be viewed from a frontal angle...

Posted by Rui Andrade on 10-08-2007 00:52
#3

Thank you Isidro. I don't have photos of the posterior wings :(. Once I saw a female of I. oratoria and it looked quite different (wings were very short) but I never saw a male.
I don't know exactly the size of the mantid in the photo but it was much smaller than the female of I. oratoria.

Does anyone else have any opinion?

Posted by Isidro on 10-08-2007 01:14
#4

In the male I. oratoria the wings are longer than abdomen.

If it's much smaller, it was a male Ameles sp, without doubt. But this genus is difficult... I can't distinguish the various Iberian species, such as A. spallanziana, decolor, assoi, africana, nana, picteti...

Posted by criatura on 19-01-2009 17:17
#5

Ameles spallanzania (adult male). Making identification very difficult especially with the males. The head shape and also that of the pronotum are important areas to study to help in identification.
Regards
JR

Posted by Rui Andrade on 25-01-2009 05:08
#6

Thank you so much:D!