New mantises (Insecta: Mantodea) in Cretaceous ambers from Lebanon, Spain, and Myanmar

• New Middle Cretaceous mantises of Lebanon, Spain and Myanmar are studied.
• Three species are described from the Aptian–Cenomanian interval.
• Head and proleg structures are valuable to differentiate Cretaceous mantises.
• A phylogenetic analysis of all Cretaceous mantises is presented.
• Scarcity of fossil adults and diagnostic characters imply uncertain relationships within basal mantises.

Diverse new material of mantises found in the Cretaceous amber-bearing deposits from Lebanon (Barremian), Spain (Albian), and Myanmar (Albian–Cenomanian) are described and figured. The Lebanese and Spanish forms are nymphs; while the one from Myanmar is an adult specimen. The Lebanese nymph corresponds to a new specimen of Burmantis lebanensis Grimaldi, 2003 while the adult Burmese (Myanmar) specimen belongs to the new species Burmantis zherikhini. The Spanish specimen represents a new genus and species and is established as Aragonimantis aenigma, but is considered family incertae sedis. The Spanish specimen is the first record of Mesozoic mantises from western-European amber deposits. A revised phylogenetic hypothesis for Cretaceous mantises is proposed.

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