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Stagmomantis carolina
This mantis matched nearly perfectly with the landscaping bushes, blending in with the rosy-tinged leaves in the sunshine. It was fairly tolerant of my handling it, possibly due to the weather having turned cooler. Thanks to Forest Dragon for the corrected ID! I was fooled by the dark spot or spots at the base of this mantis' "raptorial forelegs" - similar but not quite the same as the distinctive spots that indicative of the European Mantis.
Range: New Jersey south to Florida; west to Utah, Arizona, Texas, and through Mexico to Central America Habitat: Meadows and gardens, on herbs, low shrubs, and flower heads.
Spotted on landscaping next to office/warehouse buildings in Kennesaw GA
Carolina Mantises have these dark areas as yours does. They are a bit different than the ones on the European Mantises.
The dark area on your mantis are actually at the coxae joint (had to look up what that area is called), rather than on the coxae.
Here are some Carolinas where you can see the dark area:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/801783/bgi...
http://bugguide.net/node/view/711306/bgi...
http://bugguide.net/node/view/840066/bgi...
For comparison European Mantis spots:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/728309/bgi...
http://bugguide.net/node/view/323166
http://bugguide.net/node/view/323166
You can also look through the other images on Bugguide to see how the shape of the mantids compare to yours. Happy find for sure!
I would love for this to turn out to be a native species, Forestragon. What do you think about the dark spots on the coxae?
Hi QWMom, I am fairly sure you have an adult female Carolina Mantis here. This is a native species. The body shape, face shape and the shorter wings are all consistent with this speices.
Spotted on Oct 24, 2013
Submitted on Jan 24, 2014
+1
