A Wasp Mantidfly

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

jaharris1001
Posts: 319
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:26 pm
Location: Deltona Florida

A Wasp Mantidfly

Post by jaharris1001 »

I've never seen one of these before,, looks like a mantis in front and a wasp in the behind area,, and obviosly they fly,, :shock:

Image
Jim

"I'm growing older,, but not up " Jimmy Buffett

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

This is quite a bizarre creature, isn't it? Looks like it was made by gluing parts of other insects together!

I agree with your ID. Folks who are new to these beasts probably think "wasp" or "mantis", but actually it is neither of those. It's in the Neuroptera, along with lacewings and antlions. The dark wings are unusual for the order and can be quite misleading. For more info & pictures, see these entries at BugGuide.net and InsectIdentification.org.

Nicely shot -- great detail on those raptorial front legs. :D

--Rik

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Rik wrote:
Folks who are new to these beasts probably think "wasp" or "mantis", but actually it is neither of those.
Thanks for clearing that up Rik, I was under the impression that it was a mantis of sorts. The background is nice and DOF suffers but shooting wild things happen :-k :D

jaharris1001
Posts: 319
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:26 pm
Location: Deltona Florida

Post by jaharris1001 »

Ken Ramos wrote: The background is nice and DOF suffers but shooting wild things happen :-k :D
Thanks Ken,, you are right about the DOF,, only got a small handfull of shots before this guy flew away,, I thought he was unusual so I posted them anyway :wink:
Jim

"I'm growing older,, but not up " Jimmy Buffett

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic