I was out a few days ago in search of a rather small bug called a kudzu bug. I recall seeing them several times throughout the summer, but I didn’t know what they were until I ran across an article about them yesterday morning. They seem rather interesting, so I decided to write a post about them - all I needed were the photos. In my research, I found that they tend to gravitate toward wisteria vines. It just so happens that I have a ton of that stuff growing along the fence in my backyard! I began my search for the kudzu bug; however, it wasn’t long before I got distracted. If you’ve been around me for very long, you probably know that I spend the majority of my time being distracted by one thing or another, but this time it was totally justified! I was sure that I had just discovered a mutant!

An Unholy Alliance?

I ran across this monstrosity as I was combing through the wall of wisteria, and I almost had to change my underpants! For a split second, I assumed that this was a paper wasp, and I was just waiting to be swarmed by the rest of the nest that had to be hidden somewhere within the dense foliage. But something about it didn’t look quite right. Upon closer inspection (closer meaning “more detailed”. I wasn’t about to get any closer to this thing!), I realized what was wrong with this wasp: it had the forelimbs of a FREAKING PRAYING MANTIS!

Wasp With Mantis Arms!?

Oh, great! It’s worse than I thought! This sinister wasp-thing is going to latch onto my face with its evil mantis-hands and sting me repeatedly until my eyes are swollen shut. Terrified, I stepped back and reached for my phone. A quick Google search for “**HOLY CRAP! A TERRIFYING WASP MANTIS CREATURE IS INVADING MY BACKYARD!!!**” was enough to alleviate all of my fears. I hadn’t discovered a new species; nor had I stumbled upon an unholy mutant creature. It was just a wasp mantidfly! Are they dangerous? Judge for yourselves…

Rated Everyone

* photo taken using Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

This is Violet. Don’t worry! I did my due diligence before allowing her to hold this deceptive little creature. But they really are harmless. Even though this little guy does a spot on job of mimicking a paper wasp, it doesn’t have stinger, and their claw-like hands aren’t even strong enough to do any damage to human skin.

So, Exactly What Is A Wasp Mantidfly?

Well, it turns out that they are neither wasps, praying mantises, nor flies! In fact, none of these insects even belong to the same order! The wasp mantidfly is a member of the order Neuroptera, which includes the net-winged insects like antlions, owlflies, and lacewings, all of which are new to me. Neuroptera is further broken down into a handful of families including Mantispidae - the mantidflies. Our particular specimen can be more specifically identified as Climaciella brunnea, although I am not positive of my identification down to the species. When compared to other photos of C. brunnea, it doesn’t look exactly the same. Most specimen exhibit yellow striped markings; however, a remark made by a contributor to bugguide leads me to believe that I am correct. According to Marius Aurelian, the coloration of the wasp mantidfly can vary greatly depending on the type of paper wasps that are common to a particular area, and most of the paper wasps we have lack the yellow stripes. I can attest firsthand that this little guy very closely resembles our native wasp species!

So, how exactly did this amazing creature end up with such a mishmash of characteristics? Just from looking, you would probably think that the mantidfly is closely related to the praying mantis. Where else would it get those distinctive claws? You would be wrong. What you are looking at is a classic case of convergent evolution. Apparently that raptorial front leg design is the most efficient way to catch fast moving prey. Speaking of prey...

What Do They Eat?

I could tell just by looking at the forearms that this things had to be a predator! But, what would it eat? I had to know! So, I started trying some things. My first attempt was a cricket, but the mantidfly didn’t seem interested. It slapped at the cricket a couple of times, but I’m pretty sure it was just trying to defend itself. Next, I introduced a ladybug. Still nothing. Another round of Googling brought the answer: flies! Instead of trying to catch a fly and find some way to introduce to the mantidfly, I retrieved a watermelon rind from that had been in the compost for a couple of days. The action began mere moments after placing the mantidfly onto the watermelon rind.

Video captured by me using Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

I Ain’t Never Scared

As I mentioned before, this thing kind of had me freaked out a little bit at first. I kept my distance until I found out that it was pretty harmless. After that, it was game on! I broke off the piece of wisteria that it was standing on and moved it to a spot in the light so I could get a few pictures and investigate further. Despite having wings, the wasp mantidfly stayed put. I plucked a piece of grass and gently prodded toward it, but it stood its ground. In fact, with lightening speed, it even struck at the grass using its mantis-like appendages. I began to second guess just how harmless this thing could be if it was willing to stand its ground like that! Eventually though, my curiosity got the best of me, and I had to hold it. Indeed, it was very docile! It appears as though these creatures have gone all-in on the whole mimicry strategy!

Wasp Mantidfly Life Cycle

If you think the adult wasp mantidfly is tough, check out their larval stage! **They eat *spider eggs!*** The female lays her eggs on leaves, where the larvae hatch out and wait for an unsuspecting spider to happen by. Once a target is acquired, a mantidfly larva will hitch a ride and sometimes grab a quick snack of spider blood while waiting for the spider to mate and lay eggs. The goal of the larva is to gets itself wrapped up with the eggs inside of the spider’s egg sac where it will drain them dry as it grows and develops. Once the larva reaches adulthood, it bursts out of the egg sac and flies away. Interestingly, this has been the way of the mantidfly since at least 44 million years!

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Thanks for checking out my post! I hope you have enjoyed learning about this freak-of-nature amazing creature as much as I did. Until next time!

* All photos taken using Canon Rebel T3; Lens Model: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (with a cheap screw on macro adapter); post processing performed using Darktable unless otherwise labeled.