Abstract
The recent growing interest on the Mantodea fauna of southern Europe and Portugal in particular, has enabled the discovery of two geographically separated populations of hitherto unknown species in Europe. Analysis of specimens shows that they belong to two Afrotropical mantids: Miomantis caffra Saussure, 1871 and Miomantis paykullii Stal, 1871, thus raising the number of known species in Europe to 39 and in Portugal to 11.While these are remarkable findings, they also represent the first alien mantis species recorded from this continent. As yet, these species appear to be confined to artificial humanised gardened areas but call for more attention to the problem of biological invasions and the need for better bio-security measures for the conservation of natural ecosystems.In the absence of recent revisionary work on the Mantodea of Portugal and given the need to provide an accessible identification tool, both a checklist and a key to species are provided for all species in the country.
Highlights
Human impact on biological diversity can occur at different levels and magnitudes
With the discovery of both Miomantis paykullii and Miomantis caffra in Portugal during the summer of 2014, there are 11 mantis species known in the country and 39 in the European continent
M. paykullii and M. caffra are the first alien mantises in the European continent and are among the relatively few other cases known in the world
Summary
The effect on ecosystems can be direct, by their removal or alteration, or manifest themselves indirectly such as through climate change or the translocation of species between different biogeographic regions. Due to an incomplete knowledge of ecosystems by researchers and policy-makers, many introduction cases may be overlooked, even more rarely tracked down precisely as they happen. The term "alien species" generally includes those naturally exogenous to a given habitat, ecosystem or biogeographical area which have established themselves outside their natural range either unaided or with human assistance. Hulme et al 2008) These include deliberate or unintentional ways, the prevalence of which differs according to the biological group. In contrast to natural dispersal, which usually involves highly mobile organisms with a broad ecological plasticity, these may include species with reduced ability to overcome important physiological barriers (e. g. slugs or amphibians arriving on oceanic islands) or have distant origins (e. g. the introduction of reindeer in sub-Antarctic islands) (Wilson et al 2009)
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