New records of allochthonous Hierodula tenuidentata Saussure, 1869 (Mantodea: Mantidae) from Southeastern Europe, with evidence of its spread across the Pannonian Plain

Abstract

In the last few years, the allochthonous mantid species, Hierodula tenuidentata Saussure, 1869 has spread vigorously across Europe. To date, the species has been recorded in many countries in the southern and eastern parts of the continent, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Ukraine. On October 22, 2022, in Szeged, a city in the southern part of Hungary, one ochre-colored female specimen of H. tenuidentata was found. The finding presented in this article is the first recording of this species in Hungary and indicates the further spread of the species towards Central Europe. We also present a few new records of this species from Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia. We discuss the spread of H. tenuidentata in the Pannonian Plain, as well as the potential importance of climate change and the heat island effect in population establishment in this part of Europe.