Citizen scientists track a charismatic carnivore: Mapping the spread and impact of the South African Mantis (Miomantidae, Miomantis caffra) in Australia
Connors, Matthew G., Chen, Honglei, Li, Haokun, Edmonds, Adam, Smith, Kimberley A., Gell, Colin, Clitheroe, Kelly, Miller, Ishbel Morag, Walker, Kenneth L., Nunn, Jack S., Nguyen, Linh, Quinane, Luke N., Andreoli, Chiara M., Galea, Jason A., Quan, Brendon, Sandiford, Katrina, Wallis, Brendan, Anderson, Matthew L., Canziani, Elizabeth Valeria, Craven, Jade, Hakim, Roi R.C., Lowther, Rod, Maneylaws, Cindy, Menz, Bastian A., Newman, John, Perkins, Harvey D., Smith, Alistair R., Webber, Vanessa H., and Wishart, Dylan (2022) Citizen scientists track a charismatic carnivore: Mapping the spread and impact of the South African Mantis (Miomantidae, Miomantis caffra) in Australia. Journal of Orthoptera Research, 31 (1). pp. 69-82.
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Abstract
The recent integration of citizen science with modern technology has greatly increased its applications and has allowed more people than ever to contribute to research across all areas of science. In particular, citizen science has been instrumental in the detection and monitoring of novel introduced species across the globe. This study provides the first records of Miomantis caffra Saussure, 1871, the South African Mantis, from the Australian mainland and uses records from four different citizen science and social media platforms in conjunction with museum records to track the spread of the species through the country. A total of 153 wild mantises and oothecae were observed across four states and territories (New South Wales, Norfolk Island, Victoria, and Western Australia) between 2009 and 2021. The large number of observations of the species in Victoria and the more recent isolated observations in other states and territories suggest that the species initially arrived in Geelong via oothecae attached to plants or equipment, likely from the invasive population in New Zealand. From there it established and spread outwards to Melbourne and eventually to other states and territories, both naturally and with the aid of human transport. We also provide a comparison of M. caffra to similar native mantises, specifically Pseudomantis albofimbriata (Stål, 1860), and comment on the potential impact and further spread of the species within Australia. Finally, we reiterate the many benefits of engaging directly with citizen scientists in biodiversity research and comment on the decision to include them in all levels of this research investigation.
Item ID: | 76589 |
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Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
ISSN: | 1937-2426 |
Keywords: | citizen science, geographic distribution, iNaturalist, introduced species, Mantodea, ootheca, Pseudomantis |
Copyright Information: | This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Date Deposited: | 28 Mar 2023 01:51 |
FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310302 Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) @ 50% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3109 Zoology > 310913 Invertebrate biology @ 50% |
SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180602 Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments @ 100% |
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