Praying Mantis Nymph

I I think it is very unlikely that this is an African species. I am not sure what you mean about the abdomen.

Maybe that species is a Mantis religiosa, only that i'm not sure of the common name of this species in USA. I leave you the link of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_religiosa , http://switchzoo.com/profiles/prayingmantis.htm

Cute nymph! It looks like it could be a Stagmomantis species. I am not sure if the black dots on the front leg are diagnostic but there are two species of Stagmomantis in California: Stagmomantis limbata and Stagmomantis californica. They are similar looking with some slight differences in size and wings and abdomen of the males. Here are links to the two on Bugguide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/149885 http://bugguide.net/node/view/7985 Hope this helps.

Sorry, I am not an expert on them. Someone will likely be able to help.

Nice!