A social beauty: distribution, ecology and conservation of Iris oratoria in the Central Mediterranean Region

Abstract

The distribution and knowledge on the Mediterranean mantid Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1785) is here updated. Despite is beautiful appearance and presence in the social media, the scientific knowledge on its real distribution is poor and incomplete and this may affect its conservation at local scales. Citizen science records have been here compared with traditional science records, here updated with many new and original localities: this species is reported for the first time for Libya, Malta, Calabria and many Mediterranean islands and islets. The ecological preferences have been investigated in a retrodunal transect to investigate the preferred vegetation patterns for this species. The general value of citizen science records in evaluating the real distribution of a species have been tested here, using Iris oratoria as a case study for further investigations.