Mantis fly

[Extensionofgreen]

In all of my years, though I knew they existed, I have never seen or expected to see in Maryland, a live mantis fly. Randomly, one just showed up INSIDE my house and even flew into an empty paper cup, on its own free will, making it easy to capture in a deli cup. It has fed on B.latteralis nymphs and is just so neat!

 

[Duriana]

Wow never knew these even existed! Really cool looking things.

 

[pannaking22]

Very neat! Too bad they're impossible to breed.

 

[chanda]

So cool! I just saw my first (and - so far - only) real live mantidfly last fall when I went beetle hunting in Payson, AZ. Unfortunately, it was too high up on the wall for me to catch it and I didn't have a camera with me.

Please keep us posted on how your little friend does! If (or when) I find another one, I'd love to try keeping them.

 

[TylerFishman5675]

Anything new? These guys are spider parasites and lay their young in spider egg sacs, just so you know, they are far to rare for me to put any time into attempting to breed them, I breed Parasteatoda Tepidorium They are prolific and make great feeders for small inverts, but if I find a gravid mantid fly, you can bet I'd try my luck with them

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

Yeah, they are quit common in my area