Mantidfly
Plega (?)
Observed at light near Rackensack Wash, Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA. 11 Aug. 2016. Adult female. Through the transparent wings a long slender ovipositor can be seen extending from the posterior of the abdomen.
A mantidfly with its delicate abdomen and wings of gossamer matched with powerful, armed forelegs suggests a chimera. They are also holometabolous insects meaning that they proceed through four very different life stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult) undergoing metamorphosis between each.