Manticora | |
---|---|
Male Manticora scabra | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Cicindelidae |
Tribe: | Manticorini |
Genus: | Manticora Fabricius, 1781 [1] |
Manticora (often misspelled Mantichora (Latin term for "manticore") following an unjustified spelling change in 1837) is a genus of tiger beetles that is endemic to Africa. Its members are the largest of the family. All species are nocturnal, black, and flightless. Males usually have exaggerated mandibles compared to the females, used for clasping during copulation.
This genus was among the first formally described by a pupil of Carl Linnaeus, Johan Christian Fabricius, in 1781. [2] The name Manticora comes from the ancient Persian for the legendary man-eating manticore. The first species of Manticora described was M. tuberculata , originally described by Charles De Geer in 1778 in the Linnean genus Carabus, to which it is only distantly related as presently defined. When Fabricius established Manticora he designated the species Manticora maxillosa, a junior synonym of M. tuberculata, as the type species.
Subsequently, numerous authors have described a number of additional species, subspecies, and variants, and the exact delimitation of taxa is highly disputed, with experts claiming as few as five species [3] and as many as 13, [2] though it seems the latter number is highly artificial, and not based upon objective criteria or DNA analyses. [4]
Manticora contains the following species (under the most ambitious scheme; [2] alternative classifications only recognize as few as 5 taxa [3] ):
In African folklore manticoras are evil creatures, often accused of being responsible for many bad things. According to legend they are doombringers. Some tribes even personify Death as a manticora whose mandibles are an equivalent to the European scythe of death (Mareš, Lapáček, 1980).
In Jules Verne's novel Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen , it is a Manticora beetle which helps Cousin Bénédict to escape from imprisonment, when the aforementioned, unguarded in a garden, follows the beetle. Since the beetle escapes from him by flying, it is possible that it is one of Verne's "scholar's jokes" (that is, a joke which only a scientist may recognize; see the entry Jules Verne) (Neff, 1978).
Tiger beetles are a family of beetles, Cicindelidae, known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest known species of tiger beetle, Rivacindela hudsoni, can run at a speed of 9 km/h, or about 125 body lengths per second. As of 2005, about 2,600 species and subspecies were known, with the richest diversity in the Oriental (Indo-Malayan) region, followed by the Neotropics. While historically treated as a subfamily of ground beetles (Carabidae) under the name Cicindelinae, several studies since 2020 indicated that they should be treated as a family, the Cicindelidae, which are a sister group to Carabidae within the Adephaga.
Brachystegia is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa.
Pseudolachnostylis is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1899. It contains only one known species, Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia native to central and southern Africa. Its common name is kudu berry, though the term also applies for Cassine aethiopica. In Zimbabwe it is called mutsonzowa (Shona) or Umqobampunzi (Ndebele).
The fawn-coloured lark or fawn-coloured bush-lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-central Africa.
The buffy pipit is a species of bird in the Motacillidae family. It is found in plains and open countryside in southern and eastern Africa. The IUCN has assessed its conservation status as being of least concern.
Manticora latipennis is a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa, Transvaal, Bechuanaland, Ngami and Damaraland in Africa.
Proepipona is an Afrotropical genus of potter wasps.
Hypaetha is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are about 14 described species in Hypaetha.
Bradybaenus is a genus in the beetle family Carabidae. There are about 16 described species in Bradybaenus.
Graphipterus is a genus in the beetle family Carabidae. There are more than 150 described species in Graphipterus. Most species are found in Africa, with a few from the Middle East.
Piezia is a genus in the ground beetle family Carabidae. There are about 18 described species in Piezia, found in Africa.
Pentaplatarthrus is a genus of in the beetle family Carabidae. There are about eight described species in Pentaplatarthrus, found in Africa. These are ant nest beetles and are obligate myrmecophiles, predatory on ant larvae and workers.
Mallodon downesi is a species of beetle belonging to the family Cerambycidae.
Aeollanthus (rocksage) is a genus in the mint family, Lamiaceae. All the species are native to Africa.
Manticora may refer to:
Cordylomera is a genus of longhorn beetles in the family Cerambycidae. There are more than 30 described species in Cordylomera. They are found mainly in Africa, and Cordylomera spinicornis is also found in Europe and Temperate Asia.
Capheris is a genus of spiders in the family Zodariidae. It was first described in 1893 by Simon. As of 2017, it contains 11 species, all from sub-Saharan Africa.
Syagrus is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. They are known from the mainland of Africa. They are often attracted by plants in the family Malvaceae; Syagrus rugifrons and Syagrus calcaratus are pests of cotton. The larvae of Syagrus calcaratus attack the roots of the plant and cause it to wilt.
The Zambezian region is a large biogeographical region in Africa. The Zambezian region includes woodlands, savannas, grasslands, and thickets, extending from east to west in a broad belt across the continent. The Zambezian region lies south of the rainforests of the Guineo-Congolian region. The Zambezian region is bounded by deserts and xeric shrublands on the southwest, the Highveld grasslands of South Africa to the south, and the subtropical Maputaland forests on the southeast.
The Botswana national football team represents Botswana in international football under the control of the Botswana Football Association. Following the independence of Botswana in 1966, the football federation was founded in 1970. It later joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1976 and FIFA in 1982.