Say's Mantidfly - Dicromantispa sayi
Here are the rest of the Mantispid/Mantidfly pictures from 2025. It was such a beautiful and unexpected find, and it would be incredible to find and observe more of them in the years to come. It would be especially nice to find other species which call North America home such as the larger Wasp-mimics. For one example, it would be a dream to find a Brown Wasp Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea) and photograph it, among others. While the larger Mantispids are typically conspicuous and brightly-colored, as they are advertising a false warning to would-be onlookers, they might also be as elusive as this Say's Mantidfly was. As such, we'll see what nature unveils in the future, but I'm certainly grateful that this insect landed on the screen door at the perfect time for capturing photos. In fairness, this individual may have simply been looking for a covered and dry area in preparation for impending rainfall, and there's plenty of that in an urban dwelling. After picking up this Mantidfly for a closer look, it was returned beneath a large-leafed plant in the backyard, to hopefully keep it out of the rain. While this branch of Lacewings (the suborder Hemerobiiformia) appear somewhat fearsome due to their large compound eyes and raptorial forelegs, my experience is that they are typically docile when gently introduced to a human hand. Smaller insect prey or encroachers meanwhile will be swiped at with the aforementioned forelegs or flung away with an over-the-shoulder claw toss.
On the subject of those robust forelegs, despite the resemblance to Mantid insects (Order Mantodea), Mantidflies are not closely related to any type of Mantis from a phylogenetic perspective. Rather, the forelegs and larger eyes that appear in Mantidflies evolved separately within Neuroptera (and certain varieties of predaceous Hemipterans) seemingly due to similar circumstances and selective pressures. Even their hunting strategies are similar, whereby Mantids and Mantispids will remain motionless and ambush prey. However, Mantidflies have also been reported to stalk nearby prey if necessary. Thanks to strong vision and careful movements of their antennae, Mantidflies can track if their insect prey is within visual range. If their prey moves farther away from a hungry Mantidfly rather than closer, it will slowly move forward to close the gap needed for a claw lunge. It will even paw out with its forelegs (they are only rarely used for walking) if it senses that a prey item might be out of detection range. It sounds like a lot of trouble to go through, but there's reason for such preparation: Mantidflies can only directly strike prey items which are directly in front of them. By contrast, the body of a Praying Mantis (for example) allows for an overall wider range of motion, as do its more robust forelegs, allowing it to effectively seize prey from more angles and orientations other than head-on.
Pictures were taken on July 9, 2025 with a Google Pixel 8a. For additional information on Mantidflies in general, plus a deeper insight into their visual acuity and hunting strategies, I would suggest a read of this paper by Karl Kral (2013).
