Carolina Mantis

Description:

Body and legs are brown, with the exception of the middle and hind tibia which are green. About 50mm in length. Wings are uncovered and cover about two thirds of the abdomen.

Habitat:

Urban garden.

Notes:

I noticed this Carolina Mantis was missing part of its left front leg, from about mid femur down. I wondered if it would still be able to capture its prey, so I picked it up and moved it to some goldenrod which was buzzing with flies. It seemed comfortable traveling on my hand. Upon arriving at the goldenrod it almost seem to dive into the flowers, as if drinking nectar. This is not a behavior I'm familiar with in mantids. After a short while, a fly came within range and it took a strike but missed. I watched it miss on three additional strikes. The fifth strike was a success. It held the fly in its good leg and devoured it. I left it to its meager meal and went to photograph another mantis nymph I had seen. When I came back, it had finished eating but then almost immediately caught another fly. Apparently, the loss of a front can be overcome.