First observations on the life cycle and mass eclosion events in a mantis fly (Family Mantispidae) in the subfamily Drepanicinae

Background The Mantispidae are a distinctive group of Neuroptera known for the adults' possession of raptorial forelegs. There are four recognised, extant subfamilies of Mantispidae: the Mantispinae, Symphrasinae, Calomantispinae and Drepanicinae. The life history and larval behaviour of the subfamily Mantispinae is best known: the immatures are spider egg predators. Among the three remaining subfamilies, larval Symphrasinae and Calomantispinae most likely predate on other small arthropods, while the immature life history of Drepanicinae, until now, remained completely unknown. New information Here we provide observations of annual, near-synchronised, mass emergences of adults of the drepanicine, Ditaxis biseriata (Westwood), within a well-established Macadamia orchard in northern New South Wales, Australia. A female deposited fertile eggs, allowing this first report of egg batch and first instar morphology. The mass emergence of mobile pharate adults from the ground was observed in the same month in two consecutive years. The pharates climbed tree-trunks for a distance before undergoing eclosion. The newly-hatched first instar larvae are campodeiform and prognathous; a typical morphology among Mantispidae. After hatching, they drop to the ground and burrow into soil. They are unpigmented and appear to lack stemmata. Together, the observations infer that the immature component of the life cycle takes place underground in forested habitats. If this feature is common among the Drepanicinae, it might explain why so little is known of the biology of the immature stages.