OCCURRENCE OF MANTODEA SPECIES ON THE UNIFRAN CAMPUS

Purpose: Mantodea, known as praying mantis, are predators found in almost all regions of the world, with most occurring in tropical regions. In the world, about 2,400 species have been described and 273 species in Brazil. The objective was to study the occurrence of insects of the order Mantodea at the University of Franca campus, observing the diversity of species found. Methods: The samplings were carried out weekly in the period of March to April of 2018. The insects were collected using a sweep net (30 cm diameter × 75 cm length). The samplings were carried out mainly in the university campus gardens. The insects collected were identified according to a specific dichotomous key for Mantodea species that occur in Brazil. Results: Three species of Mantodea were collected from the Mantidae family Oxyopsis media , Stagmatoptera reimoseri and Parastagmatoptera sp. Conclusion: The sampling is still in progress.