China mantispoides (Walker, 1870)

About China mantispoides (Walker, 1870)

China mantispoides (Walker, 1870) has very short, filiform antennae. Both its wings and tegmina extend past the hind femora. Along the inside of the hind tibiae, spines are homogeneous and grow gradually longer toward the distal end, with no spine being markedly longer than the others. The body of C. mantispoides is black, with a tawny underside. Antennae are black, with pale yellow colouring at their base. The sides of the prothorax are tawny, and the legs are also tawny; the tarsi and tips of the tibiae are blackish. The hind tibiae have 22 spines along their outside, and 19 longer spines along their inside. Transverse dark bands cross the hind femora. Adults differ in size between sexes: males have a body length of 17–18 mm (0.67–0.71 in), forewing length of 19–20 mm (0.75–0.79 in), hind femur length of 10–11 mm (0.39–0.43 in), and tegmen length of 19 mm (0.75 in); females have a body length of 22–23 mm (0.87–0.91 in), forewing length of 17–18 mm (0.67–0.71 in), hind femur length of 11–12 mm (0.43–0.47 in), and tegmen length of 17.8 mm (0.70 in).

While C. mantispoides has sometimes been described as endemic to China, its range extends to other countries in Mainland Southeast Asia. The species' type locality was recorded only as "China". Within China, it occurs in central and southern regions, including the provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang. It has been recorded from the Dabie Mountains in Hubei Province, where it occurs at elevations of 400–850 metres (1,310–2,790 ft) in mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forests. It has also been observed in the Bamianshan Nature Reserve, Hunan, which is part of the Nanling Mountains and covered mostly by subtropical broad-leafed evergreen forest. Additional records come from the Sanjiang wetlands in Linhai, Zhejiang. Outside China, the species has been reported in Thailand, including a specimen identified as China cf. mantispoides collected from the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Khorat Plateau, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, a site within the central Indochina dry forests. Its range also extends into Myanmar, where it has been recorded in Lashio.