Taxonomical study of the genus Anaxarcha Stål in China (Mantodea: Hymenopodidae)

Summary

The genus Anaxarcha Stål, 1877 (Mantodea: Hymenopodidae: Hymenopodinae), distributed in SE Asia, included 11 species globally, of which seven had been recorded in China. After examining numerous specimens of Anaxarcha, we provide a systematic review of the genus Anaxarcha in China. We propose that the genus Anaxarcha should be divided into two species groups, and describe five new species: A. unicolor n. sp., A. robusta n. sp., A. caiwenae Wu, n. sp., A. zhuyuae Wu, n. sp. and A. multipunctata n. sp. Anaxarcha atrispina Yang, 1999 is proposed as a junior synonym of A. tianmushanensis Zheng, 1985. Anaxarcha zhengi Ren & Wang, 1994 and A. maculata Mao & Yang, 2002 are transferred to the genus Odontomantis, as O. zhengi (Ren & Wang, 1994) n. comb. and O. maculata (Mao & Yang, 2002) n. comb. A key to the species of Anaxarcha in China, life history, necessary illustrations and life images of Anaxarcha species are presented. The distribution of the genus Anaxarcha is discussed and mapped.

Résumé. Étude taxonomique du genre Anaxarcha Stål en Chine (Mantodea : Hymenopodidae)

Le genre Anaxarcha Stål, 1877 (Mantodea : Hymenopodidae : Hymenopodinae), réparti en Asie du Sud-Est, comprenait 11 espèces dans le monde, dont sept ont été signalées en Chine. Après avoir examiné de nombreux spécimens d'Anaxarcha, nous proposons une révision taxonomique du genre Anaxarcha en Chine. Nous divisons le genre Anaxarcha en deux groupes d'espèces et décrivons cinq nouvelles espèces : A. unicolor n. sp., A. robusta n. sp., A. caiwenae Wu, n. sp., A. zhuyuae Wu, n. sp., et A. multipunctata n. sp. Anaxarcha atrispina Yang, 1999 est proposé comme synonyme junior de A. tianmushanensis Zheng, 1985. Anaxarcha zhengi Ren & Wang, 1994 et A. maculata Mao & Yang, 2002 sont transférés au genre Odontomantis, comme O. zhengi (Ren & Wang, 1994) n. comb. et O. maculata (Mao & Yang, 2002) n. comb. Une clé des espèces d'Anaxarcha en Chine, les traits de vie, les illustrations nécessaires et des photographies in vivo sont présentés. La répartition du genre Anaxarcha est discutée et cartographiée.

Keywords:

• taxonomy
• morphology
• Dictyoptera
• Anaxarchini
• Oriental region
• new species

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Chang-Chin Chen (Tianjin), for his support and help in research. Our thanks go to Xiao-Dong Yang (Sichuan), Wen-Xuan Bi (Shanghai), Jia-Yao Hu (Shanghai), Hao Huang (Shandong), Jia-Zhi Zhang (Shanghai), Yu-Chen Zheng (Fujian), Yue-Zheng Tu (Shandong) and Xiao-Yu Zhu (Jiangsu) for providing us with valuable specimens. We are very grateful to Cui-Qing Gao (Nanjing Forestry University, Jiangsu), Xian-Wei Liu (Shanghai Entomological Museum, Shanghai) and Xin-Li Wang (China Agricultural University, Beijing) for helping us check the types. We also thank Antoine Mantilleri (France) and two anonymous reviewers for their careful reviews and valuable comments. Finally, our special thanks go to Jia-Yao Hu (Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai) and Qian-Le Lu (Guangdong) for providing us with photographs of A. sinensis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from National Key R&D Program of China [grant number 2022YFC2602500] and National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 31572308; 31750002].