Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Leptomantispa pulchella


Biology of the Mantispidae
By Redborg K.E.
Ann. Rev. Entomol. 43: 175-194, 1998

Annotated catalog of the Mantispidae of the world (Neuroptera)
By Michael Ohl
Contributions on Entomology, International 5 (3), 2004

Studies in North American Mantispidae (Neuroptera)
By Rehn J.W.
Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 65: 237-264, 1939

Review of the generic level classification of New World Mantispidae (Neuroptera)
By Norman D. Penny
Acta Amazonica 12(1):209-223, 1982
Full Text PDF

This work has useful information and figures, although the circumscription and nomenclature for some subfamilies and genera of Mantispidae have changed somewhat since 1982 (see (1) (2) for changes).

Systematics of the Mantispinae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) of North, Central and South America
By Kevin M. Hoffman
University Microfilms International, 1992
This is the 513 page Ph.D. dissertation on new world members of the subfamily Mantispinae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae), completed by K. M. Hoffman at Clemson University in 1992. It is an excellent and influential work...exceptionally well-researched, written, and organized, and extremely detailed and thorough. A fantastic resource for those interested in the in-depth systematics of this group. It is available from ProQuest/UMI Dissertations Publishing at this link.

Family Mantispidae. In: Penny N.D., ed. A guide to the lacewings (Neuroptera) of Costa Rica
By Kevin M. Hoffman
Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 53(12): 251-275, 2002
Read online starting on pg. 251 at Biodiversity Heritage Library web site (figures start on pg. 419).

This is an excellent, relatively recent, treatment of the family Mantispidae in Costa Rica. Although its geographic focus is outside our area, it can still be helpful for BugGuide users in various ways. Much of the treatment is adapted from Hoffman's 1992 Ph.D. dissertation: "Systematics of the Mantispinae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) of North, Centra

Mantispidae (Neuroptera) of Mexico: distribution and key to genera
By Reynoso-Velasco D., Contreras-Ramos A.
Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 101: 703-712, 2008
Full text
helpful drawings of diagnostic parts

The Mantispidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) of Canada, with notes on morphology, ecology, and distribution
By Cannings R.A., Cannings S.G.
Can. Entomologist 138: 531-544, 2006
Full text
A very informative work treating in detail 4 spp. of 3 genera.