translated from Spanish: They discover a new species of religious mantis imitating wasps

World.- Near the Amazon River in Peru, two researchers discovered a strange religious mantis that was caught in a light trap. The insect, the protagonist of #Cienciaalobestia, immediately caught the attention of scientists for its bright coloration and above all for its shape and behavior, similar to those of a wasp.
When, in 2013, Gavin Svenson, director of Research and Collections at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Henrique Rodrigues of Case University of the Western Rserva in the Us conducted an entomological study near the Amazon River north of Peru did not they hoped to find the first known example of a kind of religious mantis imitating a wasp.
Mantis locomotion patterns are erratic like those of a wasp, as well as the behavior of its antennae
“Usually, most new species are discovered and confirmed within a laboratory environment or in a collection,” Svenson explains. “Having that rare eureka moment where you know you’ve found something new in the field is incredibly exciting,” the researcher continues.
The two scientists were captivated by the orange-red color with black markings and the shape of an insect that became trapped in its light trap. It was Vespamantoida wherleyi, as they have called it, a very peculiar religious mantis that has been presented in PeerJ magazine.
Its main characteristic is its similarity to a wasp, not only because of the structure of its body, but also because of its erratic locomotion patterns and the behavior of its antennae associated with wasps. According to the researchers, this mimicry, known as batsiano, is a strategy through which a generally harmless organism adopts the appearance, and occasionally behaviors, of another known to pose a greater threat to potential Predators.
“In nature, when you’re intentionally eye-catching, you’re announcing something,” Svenson stresses. That is, if a species can be taken by prey it easily becomes attractive for predators to think is poisonous, or that it could damage them.
An unusual mimicry in the mantis
In the world of mantis, it is common for mimicry to be more of vegetation, but in this case, imitating adult wasps is a unique strategy among the 2,500 species known and limited to a single family, of which Vespamantoida is now a part. Until the discovery of this new species, however, it was thought that the imitation strategies of the mantiss mainly helped them to hide from predators and, occasionally, to attract prey.
The conspicuous appearance and behavior of V. wherleyi represent a new form of defensive mimicry by which the mantis mimics the natural defense signs of a harmful organism to warn predators.
“I think the most interesting thing about this mantis family is the fact that most adults imitate wasps, and that’s quite unique for these insects. The next natural step will be to study the evolutionary biology of the lineage. If the mimicry of wasp is successful in this lineage, why hasn’t it evolved in others as well? Did the family evolve with an imitation of brightly colored wasps? We’re not entirely sure,” concludes the researcher.
Source: Sinc

Original source in Spanish