I am keeping him in a TLC developing jar, which is basically a jar with a ground glass lid. Mantis flies are poor flyers and I can take him out and photograph him with no real concern of him flying away. They are kind of sluggish especially when distracted with food. You dont need anything fancy.

Thanks, those are actually the hind legs, I do not know why they have barbs, I suppose it has to do with mating, or when the wasp attacks the insect it will parasitize. The swollen hind legs are indicative of a sub family of chalcid wasps. this one probably is in conura genus, I will obtain an ID when I go on a research trip in 2 weeks.

Canon mpe 65mm 5d mkii f/13 1/200 iso 100 mt24 ex
I caught a mantis fly 2 weeks ago, Ive been feeding him flies every other day.

Mantis Fly Eating a Long-Legged Fly

Canon mpe 65mm f/14 1/200 iso 100 mt24ex 2x

Conura sp.

yes, the shot was handheld, magnification was probably between life-size and 2x, which is not recorded in the metadata.

Canon 5D mark II camera with Canon MP-E 65-mm macro lens, 1/200-sec at f/13, Canon MT-24ex speedlight.
A 'weevil hunting' Cerceris wasp.

Cerceris wasp

Here are some Orchid Bees in flight taken last summer
nikon d5100 nikkor 50mm f1.8d lens reverse mount f/11

Orchid Bee Euglossa sp.


Orchid Bee Euglossa sp.

Just as an aside, if you want to shoot ants, the mpe65 is the best method as of yet for capturing them.

Its an advantage because you can use a lower magnification to fill the frame and therefore use a smaller magnification and the higher magnification the smaller the DOF field becomes.
although with high density full frame sensors there is less of a difference shooting with the Nikon d5100 (you could shoot at the lower magnification, get more DOF and then crop) was good for bees and wasps usually smaller then the sensor using the 50mm f/1.8D reversed, while if i put the same lens on my 5dmkii (w/a converter) it works better for larger things such as butterflies, grasshoppers, etc.

I did most of my macro like over 90% on my website, on a nikon d5100 which is now converted into infrared. i used to use a reverse mount nikkor 50 1.8d and 28 f2.8 ais lenses. I am planning to get a 7d in which case id probably not use my 5dmkii as much for macro. with the MP-E 65mm the crop sensor can be a disadvantage or advantage depending on how small the creature is you are shooting.
For those that want to shoot with the MP-E 65, i suggest some sort of speedlight you can move closer to the subject such as macro softbox or ring flashes. also f/13 is where i like to shoot at.

i bet if you reverse your 24mm f2.8 at f/11 you will get some nice shots at about 2x

MWD

I was talking about minimum working distance, it is marked on the barrel of the lens.

The minimum working distance is 4 inches, 101mm at 1x. It will not focus at infinity, the lowest possible magnification you could shoot at is 1x.

Xylocopa micans male carpenter bee face
the bee was very docile and was resting on my finger for a while.
Canon 5D mkII with MPE-65 macro lens, 1/200-sec at f/13 1/200, with MT-24ex macro flash. Approx. 2.5x

male carpenter bee face