Mantophasmatodea is an order of carnivorous insects discovered in 2002, the first new insect order to be described since 1914. The common name for this order is Gladiators, although they are also called Mantophasmids, Mantos and Heelwalkers.

Members of the order are wingless even as adults, making them relatively difficult to identify. They resemble praying mantises and other phasmids. The order was initially described from live specimens found in Namibia (Mantophasma zephyra and M. subsolana) and from a 45-million-year-old specimen of Baltic amber (Raptophasma kerneggeri).

The authors of the paper describing the new order note that "it cannot at present be categorically excluded" that the two Mantophasma specimens are of the same species, with the size difference reflecting sexual dimorphism, but they consider this unlikely, because of the wide geographical separation of the specimens.

Classification

The three initial species of Gladiators were classified as follows:

• Family Mantophasmatidae
  • West Wind Gladiator, Mantophasma zephyra
  • East Wind Gladiator, Mantophasma subsolana
  • Raptophasma kerneggeri

However, additional specimens and genetic studies have produced several new species identifications, including splitting all three of these species into different families:

• Family Tanzaniophasmatidae
  • East Wind Gladiator, Tanzaniophasma subsolana
• Family: Mantophasmatidae
  • West Wind Gladiator, Mantophasma zephyra
  • Sclerophasma paresisensis
• Family: Austrophasmatidae
  • Austrophasma caledonensis
  • Austrophasma gansbaaiensis
  • Austrophasma rawsonvillensis
  • Lobophasma redelinghuysensis
  • Hemilobophasma montaguensis
  • Karoophasma biedouwensis
  • Karoophasma botterkloofensis
  • Namaquaphasma ookiepensis
• Family: 'Inquirendo' (taxa of uncertain family placement)
  • Rhaptophasma kerneggeri
  • Praedatophasma maraisi
  • Tyrannophasma gladiator

See also

"Mantophasmatodea: a new insect order with extant members in the Afrotropics" (http://entomologia.rediris.es/mantophasmatodea/insecto11.pdf), by Klaus-D. Klass, Oliver Zompro, Niels P. Kristensen, and Joachim Adis. Science 296 (24 May 2002), 1456-1459. (This is the paper containing the formal order, genus, and species descriptions.)

External links

• Mantophasmatodea - A new Order of Insects (http://www.sungaya.de/oz/gladiator/)
• Mantophasmatodea (mantos) (http://www.museums.org.za/bio/insects/mantophasmatodea/index.htm)
• New Insect Order Found in Southern Africa (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0328_0328_TVstickinsect.html)
• New order of insects identified: Mantophasmatodea find their place in Class Insecta (http://animals.about.com/cs/insects/a/aa041902a.htm)