Wasps, True or False?

Here's one of my favorite critters from last summer:

Wasp-mimicking Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea),
Gander Mt. FP, Lake Co, IL 7/5/2013

This is a Wasp-mimicking Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea). It's neither a wasp, nor a mantis, nor a fly, but here's a shot to show how it got the name mantidfly.

Wasp-mimicking Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea),
Gander Mt. FP, Lake Co, IL 7/5/2013

These are, of course, mimics of Paper Wasps (Polistes sp.), like this one:

Northern Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus),
Illinois Beach SP, Lake Co, IL  9/12/2013

In addition to their overall shape and color, they have some interesting behaviors that they will use to enhance the similarity. (1) (Although this guy didn't bother with them, for some reason.) The family includes about 400 species, but only about 13 in North America. Of those 13, only one is a mimic, with the others resembling a cross between a lacewing and a praying mantis. (2)

They are predatory on small insects and other small arthropods, and their larvae feed on arthropods as well. Some of them are parasites on beetles, some actively hunt, and some actually find spiders and ride on them until the spiders lay eggs, at which point the mantidfly larvae actually eat the eggs. The one in the photos above (the only member of the family I've ever seen) is one of the spider-riders. (3)

Science-fiction has given us many memorable creatures, but somehow the real world keeps outdoing us!

(1) 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, 508-511.

(2) http://bugguide.net/node/view/4796

(3) Redborg, K. E., & Macleod, E. G. (1983). Climaciella brunnea (Neuroptera: Mantispidae): a mantispid that obligately boards spiders. Journal of natural history, 17(1), 63-73.