New records of Hierodula Burmeister, 1838 (Mantodea: Mantidae) in Europe

Hierodula transcaucasica Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878 is recorded from Skopelos island (Sporades), giving the first exact locality of this species for Greece. Moreover new records based on photos of Hierodula sp. for Kalmykia (Russia), Ukraine, and Greece and the first ones for Macedonia and Italy are given. The problem of the specific attribution of these specimens through photos and the question of eventual allochthony of one or more species of Hierodula in Europe are discussed.