''Manticora'' (often misspelled ''Mantichora'' (Latin term for "
manticore
The manticore or mantichore (Latin: ''mantichōra''; reconstructed Old Persian: ; Modern fa, مردخوار ) is a Persian legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx that proliferated in western European medieval art as well. It has the ...
") following an unjustified spelling change in 1837) is a genus of
tiger beetle
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 , or about 125 body lengths per second. ...
s that is endemic to Africa. Its members are the largest of the family. All species are darkly colored and flightless. Males usually have exaggerated
mandibles
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...
compared to the females, used for clasping during copulation.
Taxonomy
This genus was among the first formally described by a pupil of
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
,
Johan Christian Fabricius
Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is cons ...
, in 1781.
The name ''Manticora'' comes from the ancient Persian for the legendary man-eating
manticore
The manticore or mantichore (Latin: ''mantichōra''; reconstructed Old Persian: ; Modern fa, مردخوار ) is a Persian legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx that proliferated in western European medieval art as well. It has the ...
. The first species of ''Manticora'' described was ''
M. tuberculata'', originally described by
Charles De Geer
Baron Charles de Geer (the family is usually known as De Geer with a capitalized "De" and is pronounced "de yer"); Finspång in Risinge 30 January 1720 – Stockholm 7 March 1778) was a Swedish industrialist and entomologist.
Life
De Geer, w ...
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
and as many as 13,
though it seems the latter number is highly artificial, and not based upon objective criteria or DNA analyses.
South African National Biodiversity Institute: assessment of ''Manticora'' conservation status
/ref>
Species
''Manticora'' contains the following species (under the most ambitious scheme; alternative classifications only recognize as few as 5 taxa):
* '' Manticora congoensis'' Péringuey, 1888 (the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola)
* '' Manticora gruti'' Boucard, 1892 (Namibia)
* '' Manticora holubi'' Mareš Mareš (feminine Marešová) is a Czech surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Anna Marešová, Czech rower
* František Mareš, Czechoslovak professor of physiology and philosophy, and nationalist politician
* Jakub Mareš, Czech foot ...
, 2002 (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia)
* '' Manticora hrdyi'' Mares, 2019 (Zambia)
* '' Manticora imperator'' Mares, 1976 (Angola, Zambia, and Botswana)
* ''Manticora latipennis
''Manticora latipennis'' is a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa, Transvaal Province, Transvaal, Bechuanaland, Ngami and Damaraland in Africa.
Taxonomy
This species was the second to be described in the genus ''Manticora'' and was ba ...
'' Waterhouse Waterhouse may refer to:
People
*Waterhouse (surname)
Places
* Waterhouse, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
* Waterhouse Island (disambiguation)
* Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica
** Waterhouse F.C., a football club based in the Waterho ...
, 1837 (Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa)
* ''Manticora livingstoni
Manticora may refer to:
* ''Manticora'' (beetle), a genus of tiger beetles
**''Manticora latipennis'', a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa
**''Manticora scabra'', a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe
*Manticora ( ...
'' Laporte, 1863 (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, and Namibia)
* ''Manticora mygaloides
Manticora may refer to:
* ''Manticora'' (beetle), a genus of tiger beetles
**''Manticora latipennis'', a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa
**''Manticora scabra'', a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe
*Manticora ( ...
'' J.Thomson, 1857 (Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa)
* ''Manticora scabra
''Manticora scabra'' is a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique, Transvaal and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers ...
'' Klug, 1849 (Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa)
* '' Manticora sichelii'' J.Thomson, 1857 (Angola, Botswana, and South Africa)
* ''Manticora skrabali
Manticora may refer to:
* ''Manticora'' (beetle), a genus of tiger beetles
**'' Manticora latipennis'', a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa
**''Manticora scabra'', a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe
*Manticora ...
'' Mares, 2000 (Namibia and South Africa)
* ''Manticora tibialis
Manticora may refer to:
* ''Manticora'' (beetle), a genus of tiger beetles
**''Manticora latipennis'', a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa
**''Manticora scabra'', a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe
*Manticora ( ...
'' Boheman, 1848 (Botswana and South Africa)
* '' Manticora tuberculata'' (DeGeer, 1778) (South Africa)
* ''Manticora tyrannus
Manticora may refer to:
* ''Manticora'' (beetle), a genus of tiger beetles
**''Manticora latipennis'', a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa
**''Manticora scabra'', a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe
*Manticora ( ...
'' Mares, 2019 (Zambia)
* ''Manticora werneri
Manticora may refer to:
* ''Manticora'' (beetle), a genus of tiger beetles
**''Manticora latipennis'', a species of tiger beetle native to South Africa
**''Manticora scabra'', a species of tiger beetle native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe
*Manticora ( ...
'' Mares, 2000 (Namibia and South Africa)
Manticoras in folklore and popular culture
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
A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...
of death (Mareš, Lapáček, 1980).
In Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
's novel ''Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen
''Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen'' (french: Un capitaine de quinze ans) is a Jules Verne novel published in 1878. It deals primarily with the issue of slavery, and the African slave trade by other Africans in particular.
Several adaptations were ...
'', 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).
See also
*Manticore
The manticore or mantichore (Latin: ''mantichōra''; reconstructed Old Persian: ; Modern fa, مردخوار ) is a Persian legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx that proliferated in western European medieval art as well. It has the ...
References
(Beetles of Africa)
(BioLib, Biological Library, a link to a page upon the Manticora genus
*
* Ing Jaroslav Mareš
Ing. Jaroslav Mareš (28 December 1937 in Brno, Czechoslovakia – 5 May 2021, Prague) was a Czech biologist, traveller and writer.
He graduated from The University of Economics in Prague, getting a degree of Ing (he studied international busines ...
, Vlastimil Lapáček, ''Nejkrásnější brouci tropů'' ''(The most beautiful tropical beetles)'', Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, (1980)
* Ondřej Neff
Ondřej Neff (born June 26, 1945, Prague) is a Czech science fiction writer and journalist. He is the founder o''Neviditelný pes''(''The Invisible Dog''), one of the earliest and most popular Czech daily news/comments websites, an''Digineff'' a ...
, ''Podivuhodný svět Julese Vernea'' ''(The Extraordinary World of Jules Verne)'', Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, (1978)
*
*
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Cicindelidae
Beetles of Africa