Study documents increased species numbers, outlines need for biological surveys
Date: December 17, 2015
Source: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
A college student working at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History was lead author on the first formal survey of praying mantises in Rwanda, which revealed a 155 percent increase in praying mantis species diversity for the African country. Riley Tedrow, a Case Western Reserve University graduate student pursuing field research for the Museum, participated in two surveys across four locations in Rwanda, including three national parks. The survey was published Oct. 1, 2015 in the journal Zootaxa.
Tedrow helped conduct fieldwork in 2013 and 2014 with collaborators at Rwanda's Kitabi College of Conservation and Environmental Management. The team collected 739 insects representing 41 species from Akagera National Park, Nyungwe National Park, Volcanoes National Park and the Arboretum de Ruhande at the National University of Rwanda. Collection methods included sweep netting and light trapping to gather grass, bark, flower and lichen mantises.
The survey added 28 new praying mantis species records to Rwanda. These add to the 18 previously recorded praying mantis species for the country. In addition, 20 new praying mantis species were recorded for the region, including neighboring Uganda and Burundi. The study has increased scientists' knowledge of the praying mantis species present in Rwanda by 155 percent. Tedrow discovered and described one new species of praying mantis, Dystacta tigrifrutex (meaning "bush tiger mantis"), in 2014 from the insects collected. Research continues on the specimens already inventoried.
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