Mantispa Styriaca 🐲

Although the weather forecast told it would be stormy and rainy, the day went by pretty hot and dry with the occasional burst of wind, moving the storm clouds a bit closer above us.

This photo trip almost got declared as a total waste of our time, because I think, most of the critters in the field @simba and I were photos shooting at, somehow sensed the upcoming storm and hid away.

As we were getting back to @simba 's car, I noticed this weird lil' critter which looked like a combination of a mantis and an ant queen with wings, sitting near the door handle, just waiting for us, making this photo trip worth our while 😄

It is About 5–47 mm long and with a wingspan of 5–30 mm, some Mantidflies are wasp mimics, but most are brownish with green, yellow and sometimes red hues.

The vernacular and scientific names are derived from their mantis-like appearance, as their spiny "raptorial" front legs are modified to catch small insect prey and are very similar to the front legs of mantids (the only difference is that the pincers lack footpads and are not used for walking at all).

The adults are predatory insects that are often nocturnal and are sometimes attracted by porch lights or blacklights.

They have four membranous wings which may sometimes be patterned (especially in wasp mimicking species) but are usually clear.

Adult Mantidflies are predators of suitably sized insects, which they catch as mantids do.

However, the underlying mechanisms for the prey capture behavior are different in Mantidflies and Mantids.

Mantidflies are active hunters and cumbersome fliers.

Enjoy!

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS + Raynox DCR250 super macro lens

Info: wiki