Really bizarre/cool insect!

bugmankeith

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Messages
2,730
It's called the Mantis Fly, it's a lacewing (ok closely related to lacewings) that mimics mantids, and one even looks like a mantis/wasp hybrid!

Really cool, and really tricky to identify if your just starting to learn about common insects and how to tell them apart. (like when you were young)



Information on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_fly
 
Last edited:

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
i believe i saw a very thin, small, wispy version of this creature. it was about 1% as cool as the one in your pic! good stuff man :)
 

bugmankeith

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Messages
2,730
Some look like plain mantids, and others look like green lacewings, so their color varies greatly.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
Some look like plain mantids, and others look like green lacewings, so their color varies greatly.
i meant more like it's raptorial legs/arms where considerably less robust, though the coloration *was* less dramatic than yours, too
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
6,218
It's called the Mantis Fly, it's a lacewing that mimics mantids, and one even looks like a mantis/wasp hybrid!

Really cool, and really tricky to identify if your just starting to learn about common insects and how to tell them apart. (like when you were young)



Information on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_fly

That thing is awesome looking; it looks like it came from a fairy tale.
 

lucanidae

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
1,081
It's called the Mantis Fly, it's a lacewing that mimics mantids, and one even looks like a mantis/wasp hybrid!
Mantispids are there own family within the Neuroptera (sensu stricto). So really it isn't a lacewing and it definitley does not mimic Mantids. Although the appearence may be similar to us, it is due to convergent evolution of a predatory lifestyle. Some do mimic vespid wasps in coloration which can confuse predators and protect the animal.

These are decently common in the Northeast, we have the wasp mimic and one that is mostly brown. I saw one live specimen caught in the fall but spring/summer is the good time to find them.

P.S. You might need to credit bugguide for their image or it might be a copyright violation.
 

HepCatMoe

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 3, 2007
Messages
134
so they are predators. thats freakin awesome. they look like little dragons.
 

edesign

AB FB Group Moderatr
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 23, 2004
Messages
2,104
...and it definitley does not mimic Mantids.
If you say so...it sure looks like it mimics a mantid to me (mimic can imply that it looks very similar...does not have to mimic every aspect such as movement), albeit a mantid that looks kind of like a wasp in coloration. Minus the wings and it would be pretty convincing at a quick glance :)
 

bugmankeith

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Messages
2,730
Minus the wings and it would be pretty convincing at a quick glance

The wings up look like a mantid in a defensive posture sort of, you know, how they raise their wings to look bigger if you surprise them.

But yes, if they remained flat at rest it would be more convincing.
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Messages
8,982
I've seen a lot of pictures of those but never have seen a live one. To shorten up what I think lucanidae is saying, it looks like a mantid because it's a good design but this one mimics a wasp. Looking like a mantid really wouldn't protect it much, it just makes me want to catch it!
 

lucanidae

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
1,081
Exactly Galapoheros; mimicking implies that evolution favored animals that look or behave like other animals in order to take advantage of traits they themselves do not have. It usually takes place among animals that overlap in macro and micro habitat and need protection from predation.

For example; some butterflies mimic monarchs because monarchs are chemically defended, and birds learn not to eat them. They associate the mimics with the model, and the mimic gains something.

Also, there are minimally two types of mimicry, Mullerian and Batsien, neither of which this Mantispid:Mantis relationship would fall into.

Convergence on the other hand occurs when two different animals end up with the same design, simply because it is efficient at whatever they are doing, example being wings on a bat and wings on a bird. It is convergent because these structures function the same but are not homologous, that is why Mantispids are not Mantid mimics. The two have simply converged on the efficient predatory design of raptorial forelegs (to catch prey) and a triangular head on a long pronotum with large eyes on either side (to get better depth perception.)
 

syndicate

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,497
wow never seen these before.interesting looking.
another species to note on this topic would be the spiders that mimic ants.
there real cool
 
Top