Mantoida maya

A rare species of mantis I found while cataloging different species of ant down in Coconut Creek, FL this past Sunday. The "Little Yucatan Mantis" is its common name, but the more preferred Mantoida maya is what I refer to it as. It is considered an ant mimicking species like a few other mantid species. However, this ant-mimic trait usually only lasts for its immature instar stages. It mimics the ant species Pseudomyrmex gracilis (Elongate Twig Ant), not only by appearing similar on the morphological basis, but also referring towards its behavior (in terms of moving like the ant does, and responding to stimuli in similar manners). I wanted to get a somewhat good shot with what little sunlight I had left, so I just picked out this specimen (P. gracilis) out my preserving specimen container, so you can sort of see the morphological resemblance, but it is most noticeable in a living specimen with the dried out, erect setae and more grey-ish appearance. This is a nearly mature mantid and the resemblence is a little tough to see, but its there, I promise . (Warning: Enjoy the ginormous pictures. ) (Warning #2: Sorry for some of the bad ant pics and mantid ones, I was in a race with the ever fading sunlight.

Nice find.

Great find! And the greatness comes from the fact that it is NOT Mantoida maya, but a nymph of some Acontista species. To my knowledge, no Acontista has been reported from Florida till now, at least in literature.

Also, thanks for the pictures of the model ant species. I always thought that the ant mimicry in Acontista is rather general, but now I clearly see how specific it is.

This is Mantoida maya nymph, for comparison:

Dracus, how can you tell? I mean the only really tell-tale sign is the stripes in its eyes. The specimen I found doesn't have them, although maybe they appear in its older instars? I know it is not the best option, but when you Google Image Mantoida maya, many pictures like this

show up. But only one other that look like the image you provided... and of course yours...

now in both "Mantoida maya" photos, both specimens are sub adult (by the wingbuds) ...but in the other suppossed "Acontista sp" they are a younger instar. Could it be that Mantoida maya just mimics an ant in its younger instar, then has a drastic change in its morphological makeup at its older instars?

Cheers Dracus, and thank you for the alternative ID!

All the best,

Andrew

Acontista and Mantoida are very distant genera, the latter being in fact one of the most primitive extant mantises. The most apparent visual difference between their nymphs, as well as adults, that can be seen on any picture, is the shape of their pronotums. Mantoida have a very short pronotum, much shorter than the fore coxae, with the metazone only a little longer than the prozone. Nymphs of Acontista, on the other hand, have quite long pronotum, with a constriction in the metazone, and the metazone is as long as the fore coxae. The shape of nymphal pronotum in both genera is very similar to adults. Also, when in rest, even the first instar of Acontista often holds forelegs in a very characteristic for Acanthopidae (but not for Mantoididae) position, with the forefemora set slightly behing the fore coxae, as on the second and third picture of Acontista nymphs you provided in the second post. Other characters are related to the spination of fore femora which is difficult to see on photos, but anyway the differences are very easy to spot once you saw both adults and nymphs in collections or in nature. So, the mantis in the first post is definitely Acontista

If you spot the adult, you may want to collect it. It would be quite interesting to know what species of Acontista it is. There are at least 4 in Mexico and 1 on Cuba.

Yes, this individual often holds its forelegs in characteristic Acanthopidae position, much like a Mantisfly.

I am doing my best to raise him (I got a better, closer look at his abdomen, to count 8 segments) and so far is doing great. He currently is eating fruit flies and springtails. So hopefully he will make it to adult and be a better subject to compare to those other species to see what I found. Also, I plan on going back to the same area to see if I can spot anymore.

Thank you greatly for the help Dracus.

Cheers,

Andrew

I can't wait to see the adult, Andrew! Great find

Very interesting!

Native?

Or introduced (by some breeder... that would not be the best news)?

Cheers

If they have been found before they've probably been misidentified as mantioda maya

Could the Callimantis floridana be this mantis or not?

brancsikia said:

Very interesting!

Native?

Or introduced (by some breeder... that would not be the best news)?

Cheers

Click to expand...

The most likely source of origin is from a shipment of plants that had an ooth of this species on it. |However im still holding out for a new species

mantiseater said:

If they have been found before they've probably been misidentified as mantioda maya

Click to expand...

Yes this is very likely, as you can tell, that's what I thought it was at first

happy1892 said:

Could the Callimantis floridana be this mantis or not?

Click to expand...

Likely not, as it perfectly matches the description of the genus Acontista.

Update: The Acontista sp successfully molted two days ago Enjoying flying D mels and D hydei. Looks like 3 more molts till adult... I will try and get some pictures either today or tomorrow, it has significantly lost its Pseudomyrmex gracilis appearance (mimic) and has taken a rather predominantly orange color.

Here is what he looks like from the molt I mentioned above, but it was awhile before I was able to put this up and he actually molted again yesterday...so I have to get a new one of him again

I captioned this one as "What's out there?"

Have you spoken to anyone about the occurrence of Acontista spp. in FL?

Rick said:

Have you spoken to anyone about the occurrence of Acontista spp. in FL?

Click to expand...

Not exactly...but in terms of them being non-indigenous to Florida (or at least that is what was thought in the past) it is most likely that a shipment of plants is likely the culprit of this species origin in FL. But lets not count the ducks before they hatch i guess. I have spoken with a biologist in Brazil and he says there are many sp of Acontista and that it is best to get it to adult before trying to make any species identification (someone commented on one of them in the FB group about it being Acontista concinna, but I would rather wait for him/her to reach adult before encouraging any premature IDs)...but he said i would likely need an adult pair of the species to make it a valid find...so i guess im going to go look for some more soon.... I hope. (I hope this somewhat answers your question Rick)

EDIT: Click the SPOILER button to reveal the images.

However some good news yesterday as he/she molted again (likely two more to reach adult) and it looks like a she....

mantiseater said:

If they have been found before they've probably been misidentified as mantioda maya

Click to expand...

Andrew,

Manstiseater's hypothesis has been bugging me since you showed me that Maya-look a like specimen.

Suppose that among the state collection of mantids in Gainesville, there is one Acontista among the Mantoida maya specimens.

It happens all the time, even with mammal collections. That would be even more fun

Yes. I wouldn't doubt that at all...I would love to check out the Gainesville collection...

AndrewNisip said:

Yes. I wouldn't doubt that at all...I would love to check out the Gainesville collection...

Click to expand...

last month I went to entomology camp and one of the camp counselors works at the department of agriculture so he brought my dad and I in through the back door on the last day of camp to show me the mantis specimens. It was amazing, two whole rows filled with mantids. and guess what they had? Male brunners mantises from all over south america! They also had a shadow box filled with choeradodis, which was the only box I got a picture of, and a box filled with mantoida maya. The head curator said when I come next year he'll let me identify and re-pin their mantis collections!!!

mantiseater said:

last month I went to entomology camp and one of the camp counselors works at the department of agriculture so he brought my dad and I in through the back door on the last day of camp to show me the mantis specimens. It was amazing, two whole rows filled with mantids. and guess what they had? Male brunners mantises from all over south america! They also had a shadow box filled with choeradodis, which was the only box I got a picture of, and a box filled with mantoida maya. The head curator said when I come next year he'll let me identify and re-pin their mantis collections!!!

Click to expand...

Male B. borealis? This is the first I have ever heard of that.

Andrew, my question was more along the line of thought that perhaps some people may be interested in knowing about the find as it could be a new record. Of course as you mentioned you want a positive ID.

Rick said:

Male B. borealis? This is the first I have ever heard of that.

Andrew, my question was more along the line of thought that perhaps some people may be interested in knowing about the find as it could be a new record. Of course as you mentioned you want a positive ID.

Click to expand...

not b. borealis just someother species of brunneria