African Mantidfly vs Narrow-mouth Ground Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute African Mantidfly Narrow-mouth Ground Beetle
Scientific Name Sagittalata olivacea Abax parallelepipedus
Order Neuroptera Coleoptera
Family Mantispidae Carabidae
Size 18-26 mm wingspan 18-22 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Parasitoids Predators
Regions Southern Africa, East Africa Western and Central Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

African Mantidfly

A greenish African mantidfly found in woodland and bushveld habitats. Like all mantidflies, it has distinctive raptorial front legs.

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Did You Know?

Larvae ride on female spiders phoretically, waiting for them to lay eggs before entering the egg sac.

Narrow-mouth Ground Beetle

A large, shiny black ground beetle with a distinctive parallel-sided body shape. It is one of the most common large carabids in European woodlands, active at night under logs and stones.

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Did You Know?

Its perfectly rectangular body shape is so precise and regular that it was given the species name 'parallelepipedus,' meaning resembling a geometric parallelepiped.