Family Mantispidae - Mantid Lacewings

Mantidflies, Mantisflies, Mantid Lacewings, Mantis Lacewings

Nearctic members of Mantispinae used to be treated in Mantispa (restricted to the Old World, as currently defined)(1)

Mantispidae Leach, 1815

11 spp. in 7 genera in our area; 4 spp. in 3 genera in Canada(2)(3)(4)(5)(6), ~400 spp. in 44 genera worldwide(5)

In our area:

Symphrasinae

Calomantispinae

Mantispinae(1)

20-35 mm

Like lacewings, but with raptorial, mantid-like forelegs; one species is a wasp mimic.

Keys to subfamilies and genera in(6)(1)

Family characteristics(3):

Worldwide (mostly tropical) & across NA, more diverse in the south

Predatory: Adults eat small insects, caught with their raptorial forelegs. Larvae in the subfamily Mantispinae are restricted to feeding on eggs within egg sacs of spiders. Larvae in the other more primitive subfamilies (i.e. our genera Plega and Nolima) have been reared on immatures of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera, spider eggs and paralyzed spiders removed from sphecid cells.

Stalked eggs typically laid in large numbers.

Larvae undergo hypermetamorphosis. In subfamily Mantispinae, 1st instar larvae either seek out and penetrate spider egg sac directly, or board spiders and wait for the opportunity to enter egg sacs as they are spun. In the other subfamilies, larvae are more generalist predators of other insects, especially terrestrial larvae of scarab beetles, noctuid moths, and certain wasps.

   

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Ardila-Camacho, A., Machado, R.J., Ohl, M., & Contreras-Ramos, A. (2024). A camouflaged diversity: taxonomic revision of the thorny lacewing subfamily Symphrasinae (Neuroptera, Rhachiberothidae). ZooKeys, 1199: 1-409. (Full Text)

Batra, S. W. T. (1972). Notes on the behavior and ecology of the mantispid, Climaciella brunnea occidentalis. Jour. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 45(3):334-340. (JSTOR)

Bissett, J.L. & V.C. Moran (1967). The Life History and Cocoon Spinning Behaviour of a South African Mantispid (Neuroptera : Mantispidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa, 30(1): 82-95. (Full Text)

Boyden, T. C. (1983). Mimicry, Predation and Potential Pollination by the Mantispid, Climaciella brunnea var. instabilis (Say) (Mantispidae: Neuroptera). Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 91(4), 508–511. (Full Text)

Brauer F. (1869). Beschreibung der Vervandlungsgeschichte der Mantispa styriaca Poda and Betrachtungen über die sogenannte Hypermetamorphose Fabre’s. Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 19:831–40. (Full Text)

Brushwein, J. R., & Culin, J. D. (1991). Modified Rearing and Maintenance Techniques for Mantispa viridis (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). The Florida Entomologist, 74(3), 446–452. (Full Text)

Brushwein, J. R., J. D. Culin, and K. M. Hoffman (1995). Development and reproductive behavior of Mantispa viridis Walker (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Jour. Entomol. Sci. 30(1):99-111. (Full Text)

Davidson, John A. (1969). Rearing Mantispa viridis Walker in the laboratory (Neuroptera, Mantispidae). Ent. News, 80:29-31. (Full Text)

Gilbert, C., and L. S. Rayor (1983). First record of mantisfly (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) parasitizing a spitting spider (Scytodidae). Jour. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 56(4):578-580. (JSTOR)

Guarisco, Hank (1998). First Observation of Egg Sac Predation of the Mantisfly, Mantispa interrupta (Neuroptera, Mantispidae) upon the Wolf Spider, Gladicosa gulosa (Araneae, Lycosidae). Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 101(1-2):60–62. (JSTOR)

Haug, J.T., Müller, P. & Haug, C. (2018).The ride of the parasite: a 100-million-year old mantis lacewing larva captured while mounting its spider host. Zoological Lett 4, 31. (Full Text)

Hoffman, C. H. (1936). Notes on Climaciella brunnea var. occidentalis Banks (Mantispidae - Neuroptera). Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 31:202-203. (Full Text)

Hoffmann, K. M. (1989). Taxonomic status of Mantispa sayi, Mantispa fuscicornis, and Mantispa uhleri (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 91(4):637-639. (Full Text)

Hoffman, K. M. and J. R. Brushwein (1989). Species of spiders (Araneae) associated with the immature stages of Mantispa pulchella (Neuroptera, Mantispidae). J. Arachnol., 17:7-14. (Full Text)

Hoffman, K. M., and J. R. Brushwein (1990). Spider (Araneae) taxa associated with the immature stages of Mantispa interrupta (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Ent. News 101(1):23-28 (Full Text)

Hoffman, K. M., & Brushwein, J. R. (1992). Descriptions of the Larvae and Pupae of Some North American Mantispinae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) and Development of a System of Larval Chaetotaxy for Neuroptera. Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc., 118(2), 159–196. (Full Text)

Hoffman, K. M., and S. W. Hamilton (1988). First record of a mantispine larva (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) associated with an adult caddisfly (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae). Ent. News 99(3):161-163. (Full Text)

Hungerford, H. B. (1936). The Mantispidae of the Douglas Lake, Michigan Region, With Some Biological Observations (Neurop.). Ent. News 47, pp. 69-72 and pp. 85-88, with Plate 1

Hungerford, H. B. (1939). A note on Mantispidae. Bull. Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 34:265. (Full Text)

Kaston, B. J. (1938). Mantispidae parasitic on spider egg sacs. Journ. New York Ent. Soc. 46:147-151. (Full Text)

Kaston, B. J. (1940). Another Mantispa reared. Bull. Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 35:21. (Full Text)

Killebrew, D. W. (1981). Mantispa in a Peucetia egg case. J. Arachnol. 10:281-282. (Full Text)

Kral, Karl (2004). Vision in the mantispid: a sit‐and‐wait and stalking predatory insect. Physiological Entomology, 38(1):1-12. (Full Text)

Lasalle, Mark W. (1986). Note on the mantispid Climaciella brunnea (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) in a coastal marsh habitat. Ent. News 97:7-10. (Full Text)

Lu X., Wang B., Zhang W., Ohl M., Engel M.S., Liu X. (2020). Cretaceous diversity and disparity in a lacewing lineage of predators (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Proc. R. Soc. B 287:1-10. (Full Text)

McKeown, K. C. & V. H. Mincham (1948). The biology of an Australian mantispid (Mantispa vittata Guerin). Aust. Zool., 11: 207-224. (Full Text)

Milleron, H. E. (1940). The emergence of a Neotropical mantispid from a spider egg sac. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 33: 357-360. (Full Text)

O’Brien, L. C. & Redborg, K. E. (1997). Copulation duration in the spider Philodromus vulgaris (Hentz) (Araneae: Philodromidae) and its influence on the evolution of host transfer behavior during cannibalism by Mantispa uhleri Banks (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Journal of Insect Behavior 10(4):469-477. (Full Text)

Ohl, Michael (2011). Aboard a spider — a complex developmental strategy fossilized in amber. Naturwissenschaften 98:453–456. (Full Text)

Opler, P. A. (1981). Polymorphic Mimicry of Polistine Wasps by a Neotropical Neuropteran. Biotropica, 13(3), 165–176. (Full Text)

Parfin, S. (1958). Notes on the bionomics of the Mantispidae (Neuroptera: Planipennia). Ent. News 69:203-207. (Full Text)

Redborg, K. E. (1982). Mantispidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) Parasitic on Spider Egg Sacs: An Update of a Pioneering Paper by B. J. Kaston. The Journal of Arachnology, 10(1), 92–93. (Full Text)

Redborg K.E. (1983) A mantispid larva can preserve its spider egg prey: evidence for an aggressive allomone. Oecologia 58: 230–31.

Redborg K.E. (1998). Biology of the Mantispidae. Annual Review of Entomology, 43: 175-194. (Full Text)

Redborg K.E. & E.G. MacLeod (1983). Climaciella brunnea (Neuroptera: Mantispidae): a mantispid that obligately boards spiders. Journal of Natural History, 17: 63-73. (Full Text)

Redborg, K. E. and E. G. MacLeod (1984). Maintenance feeding of first instar mantispid larvae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) on spider (Arachnida, Araneae) hemolymph. J. Arachnol., 11:337-341. (Full Text)

Redborg, K. E. & E. G. MacLeod (1985). The developmental ecology of Mantispa uhleri Banks (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Illinois Biol. Monogr. 53. 130 pp. (Full Text)

Redborg, K. E., & Redborg, A. H. (2000). Resource Partitioning of Spider Hosts (Arachnida, Araneae) by Two Mantispid Species (Neuroptera, Mantispidae) in an Illinois Woodland. The Journal of Arachnology, 28(1), 70–78. (Full Text)

Rice, M. E. (1985). Spiderling survival in a Mantispa (Neuroptera, Mantispidae) infested egg sac. Jour. Arachnol. 13:139-140. (Full Text)

Rice, M. E. (1986). Communal oviposition by Mantispa fuscicomis (Say) (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) and subsequent larval parasitism on spiders (Arachnida: Araneida) in south Texas. J. Kansas. Entomol. Soc. 59: 121-126. (JSTOR)

Rice M.E. & W.B. Peck (1991). Mantispa sayi (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) parasitism on spiders (Araneae) in Texas, with observations on oviposition and larval survivorship. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 84: 52-57. (Full Text)

Roble, S. M. (1986). A new spider host association for Mantispa viridis (Neuroptera: Mantispidae). Jour. Arachnol. 14:135-136. (Full Text)

Scheffer, S. J. (1992). Transfer of a larval mantispid during copulation of its spider host. Jour. Insect Behav. 5(6):797-800. (Full Text)

Smith RC. (1934). Notes on the Neuroptera and Mecoptera of Kansas, with keys for the identification of species. J. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 7:120–45 (Full Text)

Snyman, L. P., Ohl, M., Pirk, C. W. W., & Sole, C. L. (2020). A review of the biology and biogeography of Mantispidae (Neuroptera). Insect Systematics & Evolution, 52(2), 125-166. (Full Text...Supplementary material available here)

Viets, D. (1941). A biological note on the Mantispidae (Neuroptera). Jour. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 14(2):70-71. (JSTOR)

Welch, J. L., & Kondratieff, B. C. (1991). The Mantispidae (Neuroptera) of Colorado. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 64(1), 69–76. (JSTOR)

"Spider-boarding Insect Preserved in Amber"...article on Micheal Ohl's discovery of a 44-million y.o. fossil mantispid