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Photo#966678
Mantidfly from philodromid eggs - Leptomantispa pulchella

Mantidfly from philodromid eggs - Leptomantispa pulchella
6 mi NE McCloud, Shasta National Forest, Siskiyou County, California, USA
July 27, 2014
Size: 13 mm
This adult mantidfly emerged from philodromid eggs which came from a spider collected and reared by Tim Manolis. The eggs were laid on July 4th or 5th and the adult emerged between July 22 and July 27th (I was on vacation), so between 17-23 days from egg laying to adult mantispid. The mantidfly was chilled and photographed live and then later collected and preserved in alcohol.

The female philodromid that laid the parasitized eggs is here: .

Images of this individual: tag all
Mantidfly from philodromid eggs - Leptomantispa pulchella Mantidfly from philodromid eggs - Leptomantispa pulchella

Moved
Moved from Mantidflies.

I agree Ken, definitely L. pulchella...from the "5 or less wishbones" character formulated in the last paragraph of the remarks under the post below (and clarified in the comments beneath there):

     

I'd love to see a mantispid in our area. I recall your remarkable shot of a larva on a spider's pedicel from a Redwood City park:

     

If you ever rear them from there, or see one there, email me and I'll be over in a flash to see it :-) BTW, these often come to mercury vapor lights, might interesting to try setting up lights at the park.

 
Thanks -
very much Aaron! I will definitely contact you if I rear one - unfortunately, I think the ones I've found so far have always been detected by seeing them under the microscope after I've placed the spider in alcohol...

Probably -
Leptomantispa pulchella - thanks to comments from Tim Manolis, who collected and reared the spider and its eggs.

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