European Mantis

friendly?

Nice find Rebecca! This looks like it is probably a female. The European Mantis is an introduced species of mantid native to, you guessed it, Europe! They have been intentionally introduced with the as pest control for gardens though, like all predators, they aren't choosy about their meals. As long as they can catch it and eat it, it is fair game. They seem to be better adapted to cooler weather than our native mantids so this species and the Chinese Mantid can be found in the northern US and in Canada (though I don't know how far north). The European Mantis comes in green or brown (various shades of brown). The green ones usually have purple or reddish coloration on the upper part of their hind legs (femora). On the front legs (raptorial) they have a distinctive spot on the inside near the body (sort of "armpit" area). It is either solid black or white with a black border. They also have white speckling on the inside of upper part of the front legs (you can see that in your photo). I was feeling like writing a bit! Hope you don't mind. :)

Cool! I had one fly in our car in Croatia, don't have a picture up yet. Just got home Sunday evening.