For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wasps and Mantis

Females of Spider-hunting Wasps run about the ground flicking and jerking their wings. They provision their nests with one paralyzed spider usually many times larger than themselves and which they drag along the ground to get it there..
This has to be the tiniest mantis I have ever seen, only about 3mm in length.
When they are small like this they will moult many times before their proper colors show so it is veery difficult to tell what it will be. Judging from this, I am going to hazzard a guess and say that it belongs to the Hymenopodidae family of Flower mantids.

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