Mantodea oasis of Palaearctic region: biogeographical analysis of Mantodea in Egypt

Abstract

Background: Egypt forms a home for the highest number of recorded Mantodea species of the Palaearctic Region. The status and ecology of such diversity are far from being completely understood. Main body: Through this study, the similarity of Mantodea species composition among Egyptian ecological zones has been examined by using the Sørensen-Dice coefficient, beside the calculation of species richness for each zone. Also, maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling was used to estimate the potential distribution of Mantodea species throughout the country. Three topographical and 19 bioclimatic variables have been used to estimate the current status of all Mantodea species in Egypt. The collected materials of adult mantis have been used to analyze the seasonality of 14 Egyptian common genera. Our results indicated that there was a high faunal similarity between the Western and Eastern deserts, the coastal strip, and the lower Nile valley. The lowest similarity was between Gebel Elba and all other zones. The analysis of habitat suitability of Mantodea in Egypt was fragmentary and focused on different distinct ecological zones. Altitude was the most effective ecological factor that affected Mantodea distribution as a group. Analysis of seasonality data of the common genera of Mantodea indicated that all are found in summer except for Miomantis, Severinia, and Sinaiella. Conclusion: Our results can be used as a basis for future studies of the ecology of certain species and conservation of this interesting group in Egypt.