Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Our large mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea) that is shown in the first pictures is I think the 4h one that I have found. These are always a special find, however. Mantidflies are not praying mantises, although they resemble them, and they belong in the order Neuroptera. Their more familiar relatives include lacewings and antlions. The larvae of many mantidfly species grow up by eating the eggs of a wandering spider. This large species would have emerged from the abandoned egg sac of a wolf spider or a nursery web spider, after having eaten the eggs while the mama spider was unwittingly guarding it! This species is also a mimic of paper wasps. Such strange insects!
MantidFly! by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Mantidfly! by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

This summer I found a second species of mantidfly on my shed, and that was very exciting. I ran off to get a container, retrieved it, and here it is in a series of staged shots in front of a window. Getting pictures this way turned out to be the way to go since this one was very inclined to fly off. Most mantidflies lack feet on their front legs, and you can see that when its front legs are extended. They also don’t like to walk with their first legs for this reason.
Mantidfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Mantidfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Mantifly! by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

The species is Dicromantis sayi, and according to BG it grows up by eating the eggs of jumping spiders. My shed always has several of these spiders, and I don't think that finding the mantidfly there was a coincidence.
Mantidfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

EnglishBrenda Loc: Kent, England

Really nice shots Mark.

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

ottercreek Loc: Southwest Ohio

Quality work, Mark!

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

In early 80s I corresponded with a specialist of these. I found about a dozen over two weeks. According to him the wasp mimic is parasitic on paperwasps also, not just spiders. There was a large polistes nest under my porch overhang. They are fun to cage and feed fruit flies, will snag them out of the air. Nicely shot.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

That is interesting! There was a paper out a couple years ago that speculated why insects mimic bees and wasps. The traditional view of course is so that predators like birds would avoid them since they resemble a stinging insect. But in this paper the authors proposed that moths, beetles (and now mantidflies) mimic stinging insects so that social wasps would avoid them! It is well known that social wasps are very active hunters of other insects; using them as food for their larvae, and in fact they can exert a lot more pressure on prey species than do birds. The idea here was that mimics of stinging insects would be avoided by these wasps. The angle that you bring up would be a very specialized extension of this idea. 👍

tinusbum Loc: east texas

excellent!

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

The man I was corresponding with was working on a paper about these. I saw some of the information before presentation, but have lost it, along with his name. I supplied specimens and field information to a number of doctoral students. Never met most of them. Hope it helped them. It helped me.
Enjoy your day. PS, could the mimicry protect them when they are emerging??? Or laying eggs???

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Excellent set, Mark.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

I don't know. Maybe a bit of both? According to photos and some descriptions I have regarding spider hosts, mantidflies lays their eggs in the habitats where their hosts are found, but the larvae must wander to find a host. I could see where an adult mantidfly would benefit from being a mimic when lurking around a nesting area, but would especially benefit when making a get-away as a new adult.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

To go a bit further. Mantispids share a development, hypermetamorphosis, with beetles in the family Meloidae and Rhipiphoridae. The triungulin is long legged and active. When a host is found, it feeds, then sheds into a 'fatter' triungulin. Then it settles in and eats the host. The next sheds prodoce a more scarabaeiform larva, until pupation. Convergent evolution at work. Paper wasps are vicious predators. I put outside about twenty imperial moth larva, second stage, on gum branches. Went inside, five minutes later saw the last two get grabbed and masticated in seconds. Makes lions iook like slackers.
Thanks, Mark.
Bill

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

Meant to include this.

(Download)

napabob Loc: Napa CA

very nice shots, body and wings remind me of the snake fly

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Really good captures Mark.... I have yet to find any around here...

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

I always see wasps looking for prey when I'm out looking for subjects. I have also found lots of caterpillars outside of what I had always assumed was a Carpenter bee's nest in my fence. Maybe it was a wasp nest, although I normally see them elsewhere depending on species...