First records of three exotic giant mantid species on the Croatian coast

Abstract

Some giant mantid species of the genera Sphodromantis Stål, 1871 and Hierodula Burmeister, 1838 have been found spreading their distribution through the Palearctic, but none of the species have been recorded from the Adriatic coast of Croatia, where numerous local species already co-exist, such as Mantis religiosa (Linnaeus, 1758) and Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1758). In this study, we present the first records of the giant African mantis (Sphodromantis viridis (Forskål, 1775)), the Indochina mantis (Hierodula patellifera Serville, 1839), and the giant Asian mantis (Hierodula tenuidentata Saussure, 1869) from Croatia. A small population of S. viridis was observed in the southernmost county of Croatia (Dubrovnik); a single record of H. patellifera comes from the westernmost part of the country (Istria), while the first two specimens of H. tenuidentata were observed in the central part of the Croatian coast (Šibenik). These alien species represent three new taxa for the mantid fauna of Croatia, which now counts 9 or 10 species (depending on inclusion of Ameles heldreichi Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1882). The fast spreading of these species in Europe proves their adaptation to regions where they have arrived; thus, future monitoring of the species must be conducted in order to determine their impact on native fauna.