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Stagmomantis carolina
We were returning to my brother's house in his truck. When we got out of the truck, this little fellow was riding in the back.
Please consider adding this to the Marvelous Mantids of the World mission:
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/1573...
Hi Joey, great capture! Sphodromantis viridis (also known as the African Mantis) is not known to occur in the US (though it is kept as pets by some people). They look a bit different than your mantis here though.
Your lovely mantis is a native species, the Carolina Mantis. Adult female Carolina Mantises have wings that are shorter than their abodomen(yours looks like an adult female). Ths species can come in green or brown (and sometimes a mix). Check out the link I provided to the Bug Guide page for this species.
Muckpuk, I agree. It's eerie the way they look at you sometimes. This little guy was not scared of me at all. Of course I wouldn't hurt him but he had absolutely no fear of me.