Praying mantis

Chinese Mantids often have colored legs. Might be if they are kept dryer. Color is pretty bad because it varies so much. The beautiful spot I have read that is a good way to identify them though.

I agree with Mr. Goldfish that this looks more like Mantis religiosa (thanks for that!). The purple on the legs as well as the yellow on the front legs is more consistent with the European Mantis than the Chinese Mantid (I didn't commit for a reason as nymphs can be a pain). ykidsruggleslane, did you happen to get a picture of the inside of the front legs? M. religiosa has a distinctive spot : http://bugguide.net/node/view/217805 or http://bugguide.net/node/view/559593 Chinese Mantids can look similar to yours as well but the legs tend to be solid green: http://bugguide.net/node/view/789165/bgimage http://bugguide.net/node/view/698428/bgimage

Not Chinese Mantis. Probably Mantis religiosa. pictures Mantis religiosa. http://bugguide.net/node/view/773843/bgimage Tenodera sinensis http://bugguide.net/node/view/808406/bgimage

Cool find! There is a good chance that this is a Chinese Mantid nymph,Tenodera sinensis sinensis (not fully grown yet). Did you happen to get any other pictures of this critter? Here is a link to the Bugguide page for the Chinese Mantid: http://bugguide.net/node/view/10098 See what you think! In addition, I think this would be a great addition to the Marvelous Mantids of the North East mission: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/15738247