I've wanted to find one of these all my life.... and wouldn't you know it I just found three There is VERY little info on these insects, so a member on another forum with one and I plan on hopefully shedding some light in regards to these fascinating creatures.

(note: They are not related to praying mantids, but are related to lacewings)

2 images stacked

[Rense]

Wow, what a creature! Great shot. And when you have more info, I would like to know more!

[Jimbo]

Awesome Macro. JIM

[yeatzee]

Wow, what a creature! Great shot. And when you have more info, I would like to know more!

Thanks Rense.

Well what we do know is that their larva hitches a ride on the abdomen of female hunting spiders. They than sneak into the spiders egg case while it is being spun and eat the spiders eggs until fully grown. They than emerge as these awesome creatures. They share the raptorial arms of the praying mantids, hence their name..

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Last edited by yeatzee; 07-25-2010 at 05:22 PM.

[dcmsox2004]

frightening and fantastic.... great work... dave m

[yeatzee]

Thank you! I just finished editing a 3 shot pano of this guy. By far the hardest shot I've ever attempted handheld. Its a shame there is no inbetween viewing size on flickr, as this "large" version does not show the detail like in the first image. It actually makes it look slightly soft

Trust me, its as sharp as the first.

[photolady95]

Great capture yeatzee. When I first saw this, I thought to myself, that can't be real.....jk.

What is the reason for stacking, besides the obvious.

[yeatzee]

Great capture yeatzee. When I first saw this, I thought to myself, that can't be real.....jk.

What is the reason for stacking, besides the obvious.

thanks!

Stacking as in for the pano or focus stacking?

Pano I get more of the body in the shot, focus stacking I get more DOF. These were shot at F/11 to get nearly the best sharpness/DOF ratio, so stacking was necessary for more DOF.

[yeatzee]

closeup of its head



4 images stacked I think...

[photolady95]

I don't guess I'll ever be able to stack images because the bugs, insects, etc, I get are gone after the first shot.

Love the closer up shot. That one is kind of scary looking.

[Rense]

Thanks Rense.

Well what we do know is that their larva hitches a ride on the abdomen of female hunting spiders. They than sneak into the spiders egg case while it is being spun and eat the spiders eggs until fully grown. They than emerge as these awesome creatures. They share the raptorial arms of the praying mantids, hence their name.
Thats about it... and no photo's/videos documenting this as of yet.

Thanks! Any scientific name, from species or family?

[Rense]

Tanner, could you share some of your stacking secrets? Hand held? How do you proceed because of the delay between the shots, working with flash? Outdoor, or indoor? Stacking software? And all the other things I forgot ?

[Blue]

Thanks! Any scientific name, from species or family?

Order: Neuroptera
Family: Mantispidae

A wild guess at the Genus Plega

The adults are basically generalist predators and the larvae of some species are obligate predators on spiders while others are generalists.

[Blue]

Tanner, could you share some of your stacking secrets? Hand held? How do you proceed because of the delay between the shots, working with flash? Outdoor, or indoor? Stacking software? And all the other things I forgot ?

The only way that I have been successful stacking is to have a stationary camera and a non-moving insect.

[OrenMc]

Great detail in the first shot and putting that pano together is a great accomplishment.
The effort you are putting into your macro is really paying off. WELL DONE!