The fringed one

Toxodera fimbriata Werner, 1930 was described from a male from Sumatra, kept in Stockholm. A year later Beier described Toxodera spinigera from a male taken on Mount Kinabalu, in Borneo. In 1976 Beier himself realised both were the same species, and Roy (2009) confirmed the synonymy after examining both types.

According to Roy (2009), males measure 73-91 mm, with a 29-35 mm pronotum and 34-39 mm tegmina. Roy knew a single female, from Sumatra, 86 mm long. The male in these plates measures about 87 mm on the scale photo.

How to recognise it: eyes with a strong, tapering point; a strongly arched metazone whose keel is densely and very strongly denticulate; and narrow leaf-like lobes on the mid and hind femora, deeply cut into sharp teeth, paler towards the apex. Its closest relative, T. hauseri, is larger, with wider lobes cut into short teeth.

Range: Sumatra, Borneo, West Malaysia and Myanmar (Roy 2009).

The male in these plates comes from my collection; its locality is unknown.

Do you have fimbriata with locality data, or a female? Write to me at hola@mantodealab.com or on Instagram.

Plates

References

Photos and specimen: coll. E. Candela. Roy, R. (2009). Révision des Toxoderini sensu novo (Mantodea, Toxoderinae). Revue suisse de Zoologie 116(1): 93-183.