California Praying Mantis

Description:

Adult members of this species range in size from 50-60mm in body length. There are green, yellow, and brown varieties, with males of the species tending to have dark transverse bands on the top of the abdomen. The wings of both sexes are mottled or suffused with dark brown or black and often appear purplish at the base where they attach to the thorax. In all other physical respects they closely resemble other members of their mantid order, two of which are native to the state of California (the other is the slightly smaller and much rarer Stagmomantis carolina).

Habitat:

Within California, this common insect occurs throughout the warmer and dryer regions of the southern part of the state below elevations of 10,000 feet.[3] They prefer chaparral and desert environments with sufficient vegetation (the creosote bush is a favorite) in which they can climb, hide, and hunt. Their range extends from all of southern California north into the Central Valley and then eastward into Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and western Texas. In the late 1980s, this species of praying mantis began showing up in southern Idaho. It appears that this species has been migrating northward, adapting to the colder winters along the way.[4]

Notes:

This species to my understanding the farmers and state bring these into our area. One way I know what species this is , is from the white "eye", in the black spot up high on her "leg". This species is found all over my state of Oregon. This shot was captured here in Jefferson County Oregon and my garden.